British Columbia’s government said the state of emergency declared earlier this month because of wildfires ended Thursday, but warned wildfire risk remains high in many areas of the province.
The province said all local evacuation orders and alerts remain in place.
The state of emergency was declared Aug. 8 as the fast-moving Bald Range wildfire in the Okanagan prompted the evacuation of Summerland and surrounding areas.
The province said the state of emergency was enacted to ensure additional powers would be available to respond to the wildfire situation if needed, including travel restrictions and fuel rationing.
It was extended by one week to Aug. 27 as multiple wildfires continued to burn out of control in southern B.C.
The province said it did not need to issue any orders under the state of emergency in response to the wildfires.
The B.C. Wildfire Service said a prohibition on the use of recreational off-road vehicles throughout the Southeast, Cariboo, Coastal and Kamloops Fire Centres would also be rescinded as of noon on Friday (Aug. 28), as cooler, wetter weather was in the forecast.
The prohibition on using off-road vehicles such as ATVs on Crown land had been in place since Aug. 10 to help prevent new wildfires. It was imposed under the Wildfire Act and was not an order under the provincial state of emergency.
The wildfire service said Thursday more than 200 wildfires were active across B.C., including 97 classified as out of control.
