Two weeks into the BC wildfire emergency and we are still not out of trouble
Posted July 21, 2017 6:41 am.
Last Updated July 21, 2017 11:50 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER – Today marks two weeks since BC called a state of emergency as raging wildfires displaced thousands of people.
On Wednesday, Premier John Horgan said he would extend the order for an additional two weeks since many of the 43,000 people who had to flee their homes in the Interior will not yet be able to return.
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says members of a federal ad hoc committee co-ordinating Ottawa’s response to the fires are expected to be meeting with provincial officials this weekend.
He says a fund established by the former Liberal government to help deal with wildfires is enough to cover costs for now.
But Mike Farnworth, who was sworn in Tuesday, says the province’s new NDP government is ready to spend more if necessary.
The federal government says committee members will also be visiting affected communities to determine what help is needed in addition to current support from departments and agencies including the Canadian Armed Forces, Public Health Agency, RCMP and Canada Post.
Crews respond to fires in southeast BC
Firefighters are responding to 18 active wildfires in southeast British Columbia.
Seven of the fires were sparked yesterday and the BC Wildfire Service says some of the blazes are visible from surrounding towns, but none is immediately threatening communities or homes.
The fires include a 70-hectare blaze burning in the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Provincial Park on the northeast side of Kootenay Lake.
The wildfire service is closely monitoring a one-hectare fire burning in extremely rough terrain five kilometres northeast of Galena Bay, due to potential danger to those who would have to respond to the fire.
There has been violent fire activity for weeks in the southern and central Interior and dozens of homes have been lost, but these are the first major fires to burn in the southeast part of BC.
It has been two weeks since fires forced mass evacuations prompted the province to declare a state of emergency, and Premier John Horgan says he is extending the order for an additional two weeks.
