Evacuation orders and alerts drop in B.C. as number of wildfires holds steady

VANCOUVER – Emergency Management BC says about 3,700 properties were on evacuation order on Wednesday, down from nearly 8,200 a week ago.

A news release says nearly 11,300 properties were on evacuation alert – which means people must be ready to leave on short notice – also down from more than 23,000 last week.

The Ministry of Public Safety says $2,000 is being made available to people whose primary residence has been severely affected by fire as well as households evacuated from the Lytton region.

It says $1,200 is available for households that have been under a mandatory evacuation order for longer than 10 days in a row.

The Regional District of Central Okanagan says an evacuation order for more than 1,300 properties remained in effect as the White Rock Lake wildfire continued to burn.

The White Rock Lake wildfire was classified as out of control and estimated to be 810 square kilometres in size.

The district says 78 properties have been “directly impacted” by the fire in the communities of Killiney and Ewings Landing.

Emergency Management BC says the number of active wildfires burning in the province has held steady at 250, with over 8,600 square kilometres of land scorched.

Feature image: Helicopters fly past the Tremont Creek wildfire as it burns on the mountains above Ashcroft, B.C., on Friday, July 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck