David Eby shared his sympathy and admiration for British Columbians facing wildfires across the province Monday.
When asked at an event in Whistler, Eby said it’s a “terribly stressful time” for residents as hundreds of wildfires rage in B.C.
“We’ve got thousands on notice that they may need to evacuate their homes. And this is unfortunately, the beginning of the fire season that we were concerned about,” said Eby.
He said the province’s wildfire service is working night and day to fight fires with improved equipment and improved cooperation with municipal governments.
Eby said the improvements are thanks to lessons learned in the last wildfire season, adding “that doesn’t make it any better for someone that’s facing evacuation.”
More than 320 wildfires were burning in B.C. as of Monday morning.
More than 20 of those were sparked on Sunday alone, the BC Wildfire Service dashboard says, as two dozen one-day heat records fell and multiple towns in the Cariboo were ordered to evacuate.
Prolonged, tinder-dry conditions have exacerbated the wildfire risk, the BC Wildfire Service says. On Saturday, the BCWS shared that there had been 1,277 lightning strikes in just four days.
Several B.C. municipalities saw new heat records broken in recent days, many have received evacuation orders or been put on alert.
Eby closed his statement by thanking other provinces, and the country of Australia for helping the BCWS and providing additional resources.
—With files from Charlie Carey.