Wildfires in British Columbia in 2021 have consumed more land than the entire area of Prince Edward Island.
According to statistics from the B.C. Wildfire Service, as of Aug. 5, wildfires had destroyed 583,246 hectares, or 5,832 square kilometres. That is bigger than the entire area of Prince Edward Island, at 5,660 square kilometres.
READ ALSO: Damage estimate for fire-razed Lytton reaches $78 million
READ ALSO: Surge in wildfire evacuees keeps Vernon emergency centre open late
In addition, some of the individual fires now burning are larger than some entire nations.
By Aug. 6, the Lytton Creek wildfire had reached an area of 51,589 hectares or 516 square kilometres and Sparks Lake wildfire near Kamloops had reached 77,101 hectares or 771 square kilometres. Each of these fires is considerably larger than the Caribbean island nation of Barbados or the European nation of Andorra.
In the South Okanagan Similkameen, the Garrison Lake, Thomas Creek, and Nk’Mip Creek Wildfires combined total 36,885 hectares, larger than Hawkesbury Island off B.C.’s own coast.
Roughly half of British Columbia’s wildfire damage has been within the Kamloops Fire Centre’s coverage area, with 290,273 hectares destroyed.
To report a typo, email:news@summerlandreview.com.
news@summerlandreview.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
