'Far from being in the clear': B.C. extending provincial state of emergency over wildfires

Citing continued risk from wildfires and drought conditions, the B.C. government is extending its province-wide state of emergency declaration for another two weeks.

Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma announced the extension at a news conference Thursday.

Ma said although rain has helped with wildfire fights in some parts of B.C. in recent weeks, there has not been "anywhere near" enough rain to resolve persistent drought conditions across the province.

"The rain provided our firefighters a chance to breathe, but we are still far from being in the clear," the minister said.

She noted that 4,200 people remain on evacuation order due to wildfires in B.C., and another 65,000 are on evacuation alert.

While this represents a "positive trend" of orders being downgraded, Ma said the threat of wildfires remains significant, and forecasts – particularly in northeastern B.C. – still call for above-seasonal temperatures that could exacerbate fire conditions.

"The nature and unpredictability of the wildfires that we are experiencing this year means that we all need to remain vigilant," Ma said. "We will continue to assess the situation and respond and adapt as needed."

Provincial states of emergency remain in place for two weeks by default, at which time they can be renewed or cancelled. Officials also have the ability to call them off at any time.

The current declaration is now scheduled to expire on Sept. 14.

Declaring a state of emergency grants the province extraordinary powers under the Emergency Program Act, allowing for swifter responses to rapidly developing crises.

Those powers can include restricting travel, forcing evacuations, and even commandeering personal property if doing so is deemed necessary for disaster response.

The province used its current state of emergency to ban non-essential overnight stays in several communities in the Interior, a move intended to free up space for evacuees as wildfires raged in the central Okanagan and Shuswap regions.

Officials rescinded that order for most communities just a few days after it was issued, and it was rescinded for the final city – West Kelowna – last week.

Though there are currently no orders in place under the state of emergency, Ma said the extension was necessary "in case additional extraordinary powers to issue orders under the Emergency Program Act are required to respond."

The government previously declared province-wide states of emergency in March 2020 as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in November 2021 following the historic floods and landslides that left several communities under water and cut off highway access to the Lower Mainland.