B.C. ends its wildfire-related state of emergency

B.C.'s wildfire season is one step closer to ending with the province's announcement it is liftingtheprovincial state of emergency Tuesday evening.

The state of emergency, which was put in place onJuly 20,came into effect to co-ordinate the response to one of the worst wildfire seasons on record.

Overall this year, 1,585 fires burned 8,686 square kilometres in the province. Only the 2018 and 2017 wildfire seasons were worse, withnearly 13,550square kilometresand 12,160 square kilometres burned, respectively.

The state of emergency came after the entire town of Lyttonand muchof the surrounding countrysideburned to the ground on June 30,and after thousands of people wereforced out of their homes or told to prepare to leave at a moment's notice due to massive fires. Local leaders urged the province to declare aprovincial state of emergency.

OnJuly 20, when the state of emergency was finally declared, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said it would help deal with the mass evacuationsquickly and allow the government to secure accommodation for those people if necessary.

It wasextended three times during the summer.

At the height of the season, 3,631 personnel worked to fight fires, including firefighters from Mexico, Australia and elsewhere in Canada. The fires displacedapproximately 32,000 peopleand the province says19,807 people registered with Emergency Support Services.

• Read more about the wildfire situation across B.C.

While the wildfire threat has dissipated considerably over the past few weeks thanks to cooler weather, increased precipitation and ongoing firefighting efforts, it is still not over.

As of Monday, there are still 205 wildfiresburning in B.C. There are three evacuation orders affecting approximately 223 properties and 12 evacuation alerts affecting approximately 254 properties.