B.C. Wildfire Service said more than 180 wildfires are burning around the Interior and Cariboo regions as of Saturday and thousands have been displaced by the fire.
The Canadian Red Cross has opened up its donation page for the victims of the wildfires.
You can go to redcross.ca to help
Vancouver Island fire fighters are deploying to the Interior his weekend after a state of emergency was declared in BC for the first time in over a decade.
The provincial government took the rare step Friday night in response to a series of fierce and fast-growing wildfires.
A statement from the province says Todd Stone, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Emergency Management BC, says he wants to ensure a co-ordinated response to the current situation and to ensure public safety.
“Given the current wildfire situation and the expected increase in wildfire activity, the Province is taking this extraordinary measure of declaring a provincial state of emergency,” the statement reads.
The fires burning out of control in several areas in the B.C. Interior have already forced the evacuation of the entire town of Cache Creek, closed the airport in Williams Lake and forced thousands of people from their homes.
More than 40 new fires sparked overnight Friday, bringing the number of blazes to 182 by Saturday morning.
One of the biggest and fastest growing is near Ashcroft, about 120 kilometres west of Kamloops.
“The situation has escalated and it is a serious situation and the province is bringing and sparing all the resources available,” Forestry Minister John Rustad said Saturday afternoon.
Fire crews on Vancouver Island are responding to the call for help.
“We’re getting a tremendous amount of response from our department with guys that are willing to give up whatever and head off to help out with the situation,” says Acting Chief Rob Marshall with View Royal Fire.
The department loaded up a truck with equipment Saturday, as four fire fighters are set to drive it to the interior this week. They will be joining the department’s fire chief who was deployed to the area Friday evening.
To learn more about the BC Wildfires and resources, head to bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca.
Isabelle Raghem
