As the cost of fighting B.C.’s wildfires adds up, Premier John Horgan admitted that the old way of budgeting for disaster needs to change.
This year so far, the firefighting cost is at more than $200-million, while the budget is just $64-million.
“Clearly the traditional means for budgeting for fire season is laughable, and it’s not something that’s just developed in the last 13 months,” he said. “It’s been going on for 30 years.”
WATCH: Premier Horgan tours the B.C. central fire zone and meets with evacuees
While budgeting may need to change, Horgan said that covering costs remains the same.
“We are going to overshoot the budget again this year, which has happened repeatedly because again it’s not a partisan question… it’s a matter of we need to put the resources we have to to address the situation.”
“Whatever is needed will be there.”
Last year, wildfires cost the province more than $560-million.
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