Image Credit: CFJC Today

By James Peters

B.C. Wildfire

BY THE NUMBERS: A dramatic drop in activity this wildfire season in B.C.

Oct 4, 2019 | 4:26 PM

KAMLOOPS — New numbers from the Provincial Wildfire Coordination Centre show the stark difference between the terrible 2017 and 2018 wildfire seasons, and this year.

The wildfire service says it responded to 784 fires across B.C. in 2019. Before they were contained, those fires scorched 20,965 hectares.

The 10-year averages for B.C. are 1,612 fires annually, and 400,091 hectares burned.

In 2017, the fire total was below the 10-year average at 1,353, but the number of hectares burned topped 1.2 million.

In 2018, B.C. saw a total of 2,087 fires with nearly 1.35 million hectares burned.

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The amount of dollars spent on fire suppression in 2019 also illustrates the dramatic decrease in fire activity this year.

The province spent $125.5 million fighting wildfires this year, as of September 12. About $18 million is expected to be recovered from jurisdictions where B.C. sent firefighters this year.

The 10-year average for firefighting expenses is $242 million.

The 2017 fire suppression total was $521 million, and the province spent $455 million in 2018.