'There's likely more to come': 2023 now B.C.'s worst wildfire season for area burned

Nearly 14,000 square kilometres of land in B.C. have burned since April 1, officially making 2023 the province's worst wildfire season on record in terms of area burned.

According to the BC Wildfire Service, as of Tuesday morning, there had been 1,190 fires so far this season, and 1,398,597 hectares had burned.

The province's previous record wildfire season was 2018, when 2,117 blazes burned 1,354,284 hectares.

Given that statistics are compiled for April 1 to March 31 of the following year, there's still a lot of time left for the 2023 season to worsen.

"The models are – they don't look great for the rest of the summer," said Cliff Chapman, director of wildfire operations for BCWS during a news conference Tuesday morning.

He said July and August are typically B.C.'s "core fire season," and that modelling from Environment and Climate Change Canada for the rest of the summer suggests higher-than-average temperatures and below-average rainfall across much of the province.

"It is significant," said Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma, acknowledging the new record for area burned.

"And there's likely more to come."

As of Tuesday morning, approximately 150 people across the province had been ordered to evacuate their homes because of wildfires. There were roughly 3,400 on evacuation alert, Ma said.

Among those under evacuation order were residents of the ʔaq̓am First Nation, also known as the St. Mary's Indian Band, who were forced to flee the encroaching St. Mary's River fire near Cranbrook Monday night. 

Ma confirmed Tuesday that "homes and other buildings" had been lost to that blaze.

"This is a tragic situation, and I am thinking of the people of ʔaq̓am First Nation," the minister said.

She also acknowledged and thanked the federal government for its activation of the Canadian Armed Forces to help respond to wildfires in B.C., as well as crews from Mexico, the U.S., New Zealand and Australia who have been deployed to the province. 

"B.C. continues to co-ordinate additional out-of-province resources through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, but everyone has a part to play in wildfire preparedness and safety," Ma said.

She noted that just 13 of 235 new wildfire starts over the last seven days were human-caused.

"I want to thank British Columbians for their incredible diligence over the last week," Ma said. "Please keep up the good work and remain cautious with any activity that could lead to a wildfire."