By James Peters

Officials say most wildfire evacuees haven’t registered, can’t be counted

Jul 11, 2017 | 3:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — More than 300 firefighters from outside of the province have begun arriving in Kamloops, to be deployed throughout the province in an effort to gain the upper hand on the exploding wildfire crisis in BC.

Of the 310 firefighters arriving here, nearly half are coming from Ontario, with contributions also from Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and a group from Parks Canada.

About 14,000 evacuees remain out of their homes.

But Bob Turner of Emergency Management BC says that’s only the ones that have registered.

“Our best estimate of the number of evacuees as of today is 14,365,” said Turner.

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“That is a rough estimate because most people who have evacuated have not registered. We are encouraging registartion with the Canadian Red Cross.”

Meantime, crews working on the Gustafsen fire near 100 Mile House are planning a controlled burnoff today.

The operation is meant to help limit the potential growth of the fire toward the south.

Crews say they will wait until weather conditions are favourable for the burnoff.