| Comments | Canada’s western region, including British Columbia, experienced record-breaking hot and dry weather. Up until 2017, this was the worst fire season on record. From July 6-8, a total of 190 fires started - 108 fires on July 7th alone. For the first time in 15 years, there was a province-wide State of Emergency which lasted 70 days and was the longest in BC’s history. At the end of the season, there was a reported 1,265 fires that burned 1.2 million hectares of land; 30% more than the previous record. At the peak of fire activity, there were 4,700 personnel fighting wildfires across the province including 1,200 out-of-province personnel from Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, the United States, and other provinces and territories. For the first time since 2003, the Canadian Armed Forces were also brought in. Over 300 structures burned in addition to 100s of power poles and transmission towers. The total cost of this record-breaking fire season is estimated to be over $700 million, including over $568 million in firefighting costs and $130 million in insured property losses.
Some of the notable fires were: The Plateau Complex fires in which 20 fires merged on the Chilcotin Plateau and burned 545,151 ha of land – the same size as PEI and the largest in BC’s recorded history. The Elephant Hill fire was exceptionally devastating and burned 123 homes, and significantly impacted 23 First Nation communities. The Central Cariboo Complex fire measured 31,181 ha led to the evacuation order of the city of Williams Lake which has a population of over 10,000 people. |