Victoria: The provincial state of emergency will end on Thursday, the B.C. government has announced.
The province said the decision has been taken on the advice of emergency management and wildfire officials.
According to the province, about 370 people have been forced to stay out of their houses due to a wildfire threat and more than 18,000 are on evacuation alert.
The number of evacuation orders and alerts has gone down over the past few days, the provice said in a statement.
The provincial state of emergency, the province said, will come to an end at midnight, but the wildfire season is not over yet.
Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma said, “Many communities still have local states of emergency in place and the expiration of the provincial state of emergency does not impact wildfire-fighting resources or our ability to continue to provide emergency support to communities. In particular, conditions continue to be very challenging in northern B.C., with 125 active fires in the Prince George Fire Centre, and the Province will continue to surge resources into the North as required.”
However, a state of emergency will remain in place for 14 days in the Stikine region in the northwestern part of the province.
The province said it helps ensure evacuation orders are maintained, which was issued on the recommendation of BC Wildfire Service.