Not enough cash was budgeted to fight wildfires, Horgan says

Premier John Horgan says successive B.C. governments have budgeted “laughable” amounts of money to fight wildfires that are becoming all too common through the ravages of climate change.

“We have serious challenges for public health and we need to adapt our policy making, working with all levels of government to make sure that as we go forward we’re better prepared,” Horgan said Tuesday during a visit to Prince George. He was flanked by federal Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, Mayor Lyn Hall and Grand Chief Ed John of the First Nations Summit.

“Clearly, we are going to overshoot the budget again this year, which has happened repeatedly,” Horgan said, adding both federal and provincial governments must ensure adequate resources are available to safeguard communities. He said wildfires prompted an unprecedented second state of emergency in the province in the last 12 months after floods this spring, but he’s confident there’s enough contingency in the budget to provide the needed support.

“We as a government do realize that we need to take steps in terms of how do we mitigate some of these things as we work very closely in trying to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, do our part as the rest of the world needs to do theirs,” said Sajjan.

B.C. budgeted $63 million for wildfire suppression for the 201819 season, but has already spent $274 million, according to figures from the Forests Ministry.

More than 2,000 people headed to Prince George after being ordered to evacuate because of an 850-square-kilometre blaze threatening an area from Fraser Lake to Fort St. James.