British Columbia Ends Provincial State of Emergency for Wildfires

The B.C. wildfire season came one step closer to coming to an ending with the province’s announcement on Tuesday evening (9-14-21) that it was lifting the provincial state of emergency. The state of emergency, which was put in place on July 20, 2021, came into effect to co-ordinate the response to one of the worst wildfire seasons on record.

Overall, 1,585 fires burned 8,686 square kilometers in the province this year. Only the 2018 and 2017 wildfire seasons were worse, with nearly 13,550 square kilometers and 12,160 square kilometers burned, respectively.

While the wildfire threat has dissipated considerably over the past few weeks thanks to cooler weather, increased precipitation, and ongoing firefighting efforts, it is still not over. As of Monday, there are still 205 wildfires burning in B.C. There are three evacuation orders affecting approximately 223 properties and 12 evacuation alerts affecting approximately 254 properties.