Wildfire crews pleading for people to obey bans
Posted August 17, 2017 7:41 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – They aren’t getting much help from Mother Nature, so crews dealing with the worst wildfire season ever recorded in BC are again pleading for support from the public.
“We want to make sure people are aware of the restrictions that are in place right now,” says Chief Information Officer Kevin Skrepnek.
He points out campfires are still banned across most of the province, offroading is off-limits in the South East, Kamloops and Cariboo Fire Centres, and there’s a total backcountry closure in the Cariboo.
“With lightning again being a possibility going into that forecast for the weekend, of course it makes it even more critical that we’re doing everything we can to prevent any human-caused fires and of course, we urge people to report any new fires or of people breaking those open burning prohibitions.”
It’s been early July since a state of emergency was declared.
Since April 1st, more than a thousand fires have destroyed nearly nine thousand square kilometres. That shattered a record set in 1958 when more than 8,500 square kilometres were lost.
“We’re just urging people to be careful with any activity that could spark a wildfire,” says Skrepnek.
