With an estimated 4,920 people in British Columbia on evacuation order, the head of Emergency Management B.C. says you could put yourself and others in great danger if you do not evacuate.
Chris Duffy says there are people south of Francois Lake who have decided to stay at home and protect their own property, even though the area is under an evacuation order.
“We ask people to respect those evacuation orders. We understand that it is very tense and emotional to be put on an evacuation order and understand that those orders are issued on the recommendation of subject matter experts,” said Duffy. “To stay in an evacuation area can put yourself and your loved ones in great danger, and potentially you are also putting people who are first responders, whose job is to protect people, in danger.”
The area, known at the Southside, can only be accessed by ferry. Residents are only allowed back to their homes if they obtain a permit.
Locals were concerned that they were being deprived of food and water from the mainland, but the B.C. Wildfire Service is now ensuring necessities are being sent over even for people who are under evacuation order.
B.C. Wildfire Service is expecting the fires in the area to grow and extreme fire behaviour is expected. There is an estimated 100 people under order who have not evacuated from the Francois Lake area.
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There are currently an estimated 22,940 people on evacuation alert.
Emergency Management B.C. is also asking people who have left their homes and are no longer on alert to go back home. One of the challenges being faced is that there is a limit on the number of hotel rooms for evacuees in Prince George.
“We look to people who are no longer on evacuation order, or who self-evacuated and are not on order to go home, and create that capacity for people who really need the support,” said Duffy. “Commercial accommodations in some communities are stretched to capacity.”
Agriculture Minister Lana Popham also provided an update on Wednesday in terms of the impact the fires have had on the province’s agriculture industry. There are currently 250 producers that are impacted by orders and alerts in the province, with 13,000 livestock living in those communities.
The province has been coordinating alternate grazing sites for those who have been forced out of their homes and are giving ranchers access to check on livestock that have been left behind. An estimated 2,000 heads of cattle have now been relocated away from the fire areas.
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“The impact of the 2018 fires on ranchers and other producers has up to this point not been a severe as last year, but the risk is still very high,” said Popham. “It is still a continuing battle to defend family farms and ranches.”
At the height last year, 35,000 livestock were ‘on the loose’. The province is also promoting the premises ID program, which tracks the number of animals in certain areas.
“Our commitment is going to be there even when the fires are out, and we are going to help them with recovery,” said Popham.
According to Popham, there have been reports that cattle have burned to death, but no numbers as to how many yet.
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