Today’s provincial fire update provided numbers for estimated evacuees, as well as wildfires currently burning in the province.
The teleconference was held on Sunday, July 23rd, at 1 p.m. by representatives from the BC Wildfire Service, Emergency Management BC, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and the RCMP.
Nearly 225 additional #CAF members sent to help w #BCwildfires response following new Federal Assistance request: https://t.co/B5SSiMxnQn pic.twitter.com/5qEOyEbx48
— Canadian Forces (@CanadianForces) July 20, 2017
There are currently 152 wildfires burning across the province. Nine new fires started yesterday, and five were caused by lightning scattered throughout the southern sections of the province.
One fire has been confirmed to have been human caused in the southeast centre, and three fires are still currently under investigation.
To date, there have been 739 fires for a total of 369,674 hectares burned. BC Wildfire service has spent an estimated $125.8 million on fire suppression efforts.
Welcome home #100MileHouse. #BCwildfire #BCwildfires pic.twitter.com/eZJ9a3fmvD
— Tara Sprickerhoff (@Tspricker) July 22, 2017
There are currently 4,082 firefighters and other personnel responding to the fires. Included in that number is 987 out of province personnel, and 1,602 contractors. There are also 191 aircraft supporting ground crews.
To date, there are 30,256 evacuees and 47,412 registered evacuees with the Red Cross.
We're signing off for the night, will return in the AM. We leave you tonight with this photo taken from the Elephant Hill #BCwildfire camp. pic.twitter.com/2p4ZjfkFhx
— BC Wildfire Service (@BCGovFireInfo) July 21, 2017
There are currently 47 alerts and 40 evacuation orders active throughout the province.
The Verdant Creek fire started the evening of Saturday, July 22nd, near Mount Assiniboine Park, which resulted in the full closure of the park last night.
People are still being advised to remain vigilant, as conditions remain dry and there is still lots of the fire season left.
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