B.C. ranchers say costs of wildfires likely top hundreds of millions

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — The British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association says wildfires have inflicted a terrible financial and emotional toll on its members. Association manager Kevin Boon says wildfires that broke out earlier this month in B.C.’s Cariboo and Chilcotin regions are estimated to have charred about 1,000 square kilometres of ranch land.

He says cattle, fences, feed and infrastructure have all been destroyed.

Boon expects financial losses for the association’s nearly 1,200 beef producers will top hundreds of millions of dollars. He says the federal and provincial governments have offered assurances that assistance will be provided, but the extent of the help or how it will be delivered is still unknown.