B.C. state of emergency to end, remains for Stikine region
Posted September 14, 2023 4:01 pm.
Last Updated September 14, 2023 4:58 pm.
B.C.’s state of emergency, enacted in August due to raging wildfires, is being lifted.
The province says it will expire at the end of Thursday, Sept. 14, “based on advice from emergency management and wildfire officials.”
The declaration was initially made on Aug. 18. It was then extended on Aug. 31 for two weeks, as approximately 70,000 people remained on evacuation order or alert.
As of Thursday, about 370 properties remained on evacuation order and more than 18,000 were on alert. The province says is a huge improvement from previous months.
While fire response continues, the province says the risk of wildfire activity has been reduced in many parts of B.C. due to cooler temperatures.
However, Bowinn Ma, minister of emergency management and climate readiness, cautions the public that the wildfire season is not over yet.
“Many communities still have local states of emergency in place and the expiration of the provincial state of emergency does not impact wildfire-fighting resources or our ability to continue to provide emergency supports to communities,” Ma said.
She points out conditions continue to be particularly challenging in northern B.C., where 125 fires continue to burn in the Prince George Fire Centre.
B.C.’s wildfire response continues to receive support from 600 out-of-province personnel. The province says the state of emergency expiration has no impact on its recovery work.
In northwest B.C., the Stikine region will have a new state of emergency put into place when the provincial one is lifted.
The province says this will allow evacuation orders to be maintained in the region, after an order was issued on Aug. 26 on the recommendation of the BC Wildfire Service.
The state of emergency in the Stikine region will remain in place for at least two weeks. There are no primary residences identified in the area currently under an evacuation order.
As B.C.’s only unincorporated region, the province is responsible for implementing evacuation orders in the Stikine region.
