B.C.'s 2021 wildfires severe but not the worst ever, wildfire service report shows
British Columbia's 2021 wildfire season saw the destruction of the village of Lytton and homes levelled in several other Interior regions, but the BC Wildfire Service says it was not the worst season on record.
A 2021 wildfire summary says about $565 million was spent in the “tremendously challenging” period between April 1 and Sept. 30, when 1,610 wildfires charred 8,682 square kilometres, mainly in southern and southeastern B.C.
The service report says at the height of the fires, the daily number of active blazes was over 300, triggering 181 evacuation orders and 304 evacuation alerts.
A provincial state of emergency was declared on July 21 and wasn't lifted until Sept. 14.
Total firefighting costs for the year could grow because the season doesn't officially end until next March, but the report says the figure won't surpass the $649 million spent in 2017, B.C.'s worst fire season, when 12,000 square kilometres of land burned.
The wildfire service report says drought-like conditions over southern B.C., coupled with record-breaking extreme heat and severe lightning storms, helped spark as many as 40 new fires every day in July.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6940995.1719358769!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Things a pediatrician would never let their child do
As summer begins for most children around Canada, CTV News spoke with a number of pediatric health professionals about the best practices for raising kids, and how the profession has evolved since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Should he stay or should he go now? A look at Trudeau's options after byelection loss
A historic defeat for the Liberals in a downtown Toronto byelection has put a glaring question mark on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's political future. Here's a look at the options Trudeau and the Liberals face as they enter a summer of soul-searching.
Women's rights activists cover Rome's Spanish Steps in red paint
Women's rights activists protested against feminicide on Wednesday by painting Rome's famed Spanish Steps red, symbolically representing the blood of female victims of violence.
France bans extreme-right and radical Islamic groups ahead of polarizing elections
France’s government on Wednesday ordered the dissolution of extreme right and radical Muslim groups, four days before the first round of high-stakes legislative elections that may see a surge in support for political extremes.
'Why did I have this surgery?' Ont. mother seeks answers after son's tonsil surgery
An Ontario mother said it looked like a horror movie when she flicked on the lights of her son’s bedroom to find him projectile vomiting blood after his tonsils were removed at McMaster Children’s Hospital.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returns to Australia a free man after U.S. legal battle ends
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returned to his homeland Australia aboard a charter jet on Wednesday, hours after pleading guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with U.S. Justice Department prosecutors that concludes a drawn-out legal saga.
Alabama man denied office after winning election reaches proposed settlement to become town's first Black mayor
An Alabama town and a Black man who was prevented from becoming its mayor after winning his 2020 election have reached a proposed settlement, according to federal court documents.
Métis music legend Ray St. Germain dead at 83
A well-known Metis musician has died after a years-long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
New experience in Halifax gets people up close and personal to the ocean's most feared predator
Atlantic Shark Expeditions launched a new shark cage experience which gives brave attendees a chance to get up close and personal with the oceans most feared predator.