2015 could be a record-setting wildfire season
Posted July 12, 2015 4:09 pm.
Last Updated July 13, 2015 6:26 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – This year’s fire season could be one of the worst on record.
More than 1,000 wildfires have ignited across the province so far in 2015, with around 280,000 hectares burned.
Kevin Skrepnek with the BC Wildfire Service says these numbers are up from 2014.
“More than double the number of fires and in the neighbourhood of ten times the number of hectares burned,” says Skrepnek. “There is certainly a potential we could surpass what we saw last year.”
Last year was the third-worst wildfire season on record but Skrepnek believes this year’s season could change in the coming months, depending on the weather.
“Certainly the most severe fire season in recent memory of course [was] 2003, in terms of structures lost and overall effects,” he says. “2009 was also an incredibly busy season from the perspective of the number of fires and the longevity of the season.”
Wildfires have cost the province an estimated $103 million so far.
The government won’t have final numbers until the fall.
