Businesses affected by wildfires get emergency grants

WILLIAMS LAKE — Small businesses affected by devastating wildfires in B.C. will get emergency grants from the provincial government as dry weather extends the fire risk.

Forests Minister Doug Donaldson said small businesses, First Nations whose livelihoods are based on cultural practices and not-for-profit organizations that have been under evacuation orders or alerts are eligible for a $1,500 emergency grant.

“The impacts of the wildfires are going to be felt for a long time in this province,” Donaldson said Monday, calling small businesses “the economic lifeblood of rural communities.”

The grants apply to businesses employing up to 50 people operating in the eastern Cariboo Regional District and for companies affected by wildfire closures along Highways 20, 97 and 26.

Funds will be distributed by the Canadian Red Cross, which received $100 million from the province when a state of emergency was declared in early July.

Claudia Blair, executive director of the Williams Lake Visitor Centre, said businesses have already lost thousands of dollars after the area was evacuated last month, and last week’s closure of the backcountry is expected to create more economic hardship.

“From an economical standpoint it’s going to be pretty tough when all is said and done. I think a lot of businesses are going to be hurt pretty badly. Some may not recover,” Blair said.

“If you are travelling, you’re not going to go into an area where you can’t put a boat on a lake. You can’t go fishing, you can’t go quadding. They’re not going to come here if they can’t do those things on their holiday. But it has to be that way.”

Restrictions in the Cariboo fire centre that covers 103,000 square kilometres of Crown land are intended to maintain safety and prevent humancaused fires but do not affect commercial operators. The ban is expected to remain in place until Sept. 5 as the province grapples with its second-worst fire season on record since 1958.