Last night the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TRND) Board of Director unanimously approved a motion asking the Government of British Columbia to declare a provincial state of emergency (SOE) in response to wildfires popping up all over the province.
The TRND emergency operations centre has already declared six states of local emergency, with 15 evacuation orders and 19 evacuation alerts currently in place.
If a state of emergency is called it would allow for the government to implement any procedures deemed necessary to prevent, respond to or alleviate the effects of an emergency or disaster.
Emergency Management BC responded to claims by saying “A provincial declaration of a state of emergency has not been necessary to provide assistance to people, to access funding, or to coordinate or obtain additional resources – including federal assets.”
"A provincial state of emergency would only be made on the advice of Emergency Management BC and BC wildfire officials, who are actively monitoring the situation and working closely with local governments and First Nations across the province," said Emergency Management BC
Premier John Horgan responded to people asking for more to be done in a press conference today, “I am absolutely prepared to call a state of emergency. When it is required by those professionals that are putting their lives on the line to protect families, property, and British Columbia.”
MLA for the Kamloops-North Thompson region, Peter Milobar, asks what the harm in calling a provincial SOE would be.
No Cons. Would cut red tape, speed up resourcing, access to equip, private lands quicker & importantly provide some peace of mind for people that all possible action being taken. Fire service yesterday said resources are stretched, F fighters doing great work but need more help
— Peter Milobar (@PeterMilobar) July 16, 2021
A petition calling on the BC Government to declare a state of emergency has already gained over 8,000 signatures.
EMBC has made it clear that they are currently deploying all available resources to respond to the wildfires across BC, and that it can be done without a provincial state of emergency.
Since January 1, BCWS has responded to over 1,000 incidents, resulting in an estimated 203,000 hectares burnt.
As of July 16 there are 308 active wildfires in the province, with over 100 coming from the Kamloops Fire Centre
