Ending state of emergency comes as relief to wildfire workers
KAMLOOPS — The fight is still not done as 155 fires continue to burn around the Southern Interior, but cooler temperatures have prompted the government to lift the provincial state of emergency as of midnight.
It’s been a long, exhausting two months for anyone affected by this summer’s historic wildfire season. From the time the province declared the State of Emergency on July 7, a day after the Elephant Hill wildfire ignited near Ashcroft, it’s been non-stop for fire crews and evacuees.
“This has been more than two months now, the State of Emergency. July 7 is when a lot of this really came to a head. We had over 130 fires start in a single day, a lot of these in the Cariboo and Kamloops Fire Centre,” said B.C.’s chief fire information officer Kevin Skrepnek. “A long, arduous summer for a lot of folks out there. Certainly welcomed news to see a bit of a reprieve.”