British Columbia’s wildfire-driven provincial state of emergency has been formally extended again, through the end of the day on Aug. 18. Premier John Horgan announced a previous extension on July 19.

The state of emergency declaration will continue to apply to the whole province. This ensures that federal, provincial and local resources can be delivered in a coordinated response to the wildfire situation and continue to ensure public safety, which remains the provincial government’s top priority.

As well, the province remains committed to providing ongoing, direct financial support to evacuees, with $600-per-household funding, which will be renewed every 14 days until evacuees return home.

As of 9 a.m. today, there were 122 wildfires burning in B.C., including three major fires in the East Kootenay. As of 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 3, there were 25 evacuation orders affecting approximately 7,127 individuals, plus 42 evacuation alerts impacting approximately 24,957 people, including one for the Sheep Creek area near the Island Pond fire south of Canal Flats.

The state of emergency gives agencies, such as Emergency Management BC, the fire commissioner, the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, and the RCMP the authority, under the Wildfire Act, to take every action necessary to fight the wildfires and protect residents and their communities.

The last provincial declaration of state of emergency before the current wildfire situation was issued in August 2003 to deal with wildfires.

Lead image from BC Wildfire Service

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