2024 BC Wildfires Burn Fourth-Largest Area on Record

British Columbia’s wildfire season is now the fourth-worst on record in terms of hectares burned, the Vernon Morning Star reported (8-1-24).

The wildfire season in BC runs from April 1 to March 31, and in previous years, August has had significant fire activity. According to BC Wildfire Service, 1,074 wildfires have started since April 1, with 878,553 hectares (2,170,952 acres) burned.

In 2023, wildfires destroyed 2,842,275 hectares (7,023,414 acres) across the province. In comparison, the 2018 fire season destroyed 1,354,284 hectares (3,346,509 acres), and the 2017 season saw 1,216,053 hectares (3,004,932 acres) burned. Fire damage came to 869,300 hectares (2,148,087 acres) in 2021.

In 2017, the province declared a state of emergency from July 7th to September 15. While many of the fires that year started in July, a second wave of fire activity happened in August. In 2018, a provincial state of emergency was announced on August 15 and lasted for 23 days.

This year, the majority of fire activity has been in the Prince George Fire Center area, covering the northeastern part of the province. To date, 730,010 hectares (1,803,894 acres) have burned there.

BC Wildfire Service notes that of the wildfires in BC this year, 67% have been caused by lightning and 30% have been human-caused. The cause of the remainder is undetermined.