British Columbia’s record-breaking wildfire season, by the numbers

By: The Canadian Press, The Canadian Press Posted: Last Modified:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

British Columbia's wildfire season is now the most destructive on record, with about 14,000 square kilometres of the province burned, surpassing the previous high of 13,543 square kilometres set in 2018.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/07/2023 (1174 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

British Columbia’s wildfire season is now the most destructive on record, with about 14,000 square kilometres of the province burned, surpassing the previous high of 13,543 square kilometres set in 2018.

Here are some statistics about the current season from the BC Wildfire Service website, as of 6 p.m. Pacific time, July 18.

Total area burned: 14,100 square kilometres

British Columbia's wildfire season is now the most destructive on record, with about 14,000 square kilometres of the province burned, surpassing the previous high of 13,543 square kilometres set in 2018. The Young Creek wildfire is seen from the air in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-BC Wildfire Service, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
British Columbia's wildfire season is now the most destructive on record, with about 14,000 square kilometres of the province burned, surpassing the previous high of 13,543 square kilometres set in 2018. The Young Creek wildfire is seen from the air in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-BC Wildfire Service, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Fires currently burning: 381, including 21 fires of note

New fires in past 24 hours: 23

Out-of-control fires: 251

Total number of fires this season: 1,203

Causes of all fires: Lightning, 65 per cent; humans (deliberate and accidental) 29 per cent; unknown, 6 per cent.

Biggest single fire: Donnie Creek fire, northeastern B.C., 5,831 square kilometres

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2023.

Related Articles

B.C.'s wildfire season, yet to peak, sets record
With more than 370 blazes burning in the province, BC Wildfire Service data shows they have consumed more than 12,900 square kilometres of land this year in B.C., encroaching on the record of just over 13,500 square kilometres set in 2018. Flames from the Donnie Creek wildfire burn along a ridge top north of Fort St. John, B.C., on Sunday, July 2, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Noah Berger

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

Winnipeg Jet Tyrel Bauer (77) and Boston Bruin Mark Kastelic (47) fight during the first period in Winnipeg on Friday.

Living the dream

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Preview

Living the dream

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Yesterday at 4:48 PM CDT

DETROIT – As Tyrel Bauer took a left turn out of the tunnel from the Winnipeg Jets dressing room and into the stands, he was met with a hearty round of applause from the 25 friends and family members who had made the trek from various points around North America.

Bauer had just realized a childhood dream and the significance of the moment was not lost on some of his biggest supporters.

“It was a special walk, for sure. A special walk,” Bauer said on Saturday afternoon before the Jets departed for a two-game road trip that begins on Sunday in Detroit against the Red Wings. “Those people who came – and many more that weren’t there and were cheering on from afar – they’ve always been there.

“I wanted that for my family, maybe even more than I wanted it for me. They’ve been through thick and thin. I’ve stressed mom out quite a bit over the years doing my job. That meant a lot for them and I’m really happy they could be there for it.”

Read
Yesterday at 4:48 PM CDT
Jack Dobson/The Globe and Mail CBC producer Perry Rosemond in Toronto

Creative powerhouse Perry Rosemond never lost Winnipeg roots

Ben Waldman 7 minute read Preview

Creative powerhouse Perry Rosemond never lost Winnipeg roots

Ben Waldman 7 minute read Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT

He created King of Kensington, directed the troops in the Royal Canadian Air Farce, and his creative eye was behind the lens for television shows starring Johnny Cash, Tom Jones, Mr. Dress-Up and the Friendly Giant.

He also wrote and developed the Canadian version of Sesame Street during his time as the head of school and preschool programming for CBC in Toronto, and directed a televised special in 2002 for Winnipeg sketch comedy troupe Royal Liechtenstein Theatre Company.

But before his name featured in the credits of some of the most iconic and influential pieces of the Cancon canon, Perry Rosemond was an only child living in a crammed, multi-generational home in Winnipeg’s North End, racing each day to beat the morning bell next door at William Whyte School.

In memoirs that have yet to be published, the late television producer recalled his childhood. “(T)here were 14 of us in the house at 193 Andrews St., and it wasn’t that big of a house,” he writes.

Read
Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT

Puzzles Palace

1 minute read Monday, Jul. 27, 2026

To solve our puzzles, please subscribe with this special offer: |

Letters, Oct. 3

7 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

A morning in the life …

My very first lesson does not start when I walk into that lecture hall, oh no — it starts long before. It begins when I walk to my car, check the estimated arrival time to the University of Manitoba and hope that Winnipeg traffic agrees with it.

A drive that appears completely manageable changes almost immediately when I’m greeted by a tsunami of orange pylons and a line of cars that appears to go on forever. Traffic moves by the inch, lanes magically disappear and the detour I took yesterday now has a detour of its own. These factors make me do a calculation that I have become all too familiar with. How late can I arrive and still find parking, run to my class across campus and get to class with enough time left to make it worth it?

I have grown used to people saying, “Why not just leave earlier?” I do. But when I’m already leaving for my 8:30 a.m. class at 7 a.m., there’s only so much I can do. This drive that some would think is relaxing is one that feels like an assignment that I didn’t know I had to complete and is due at 8:30 a.m.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Scott and Marla Gillingham have breakfast at home on Saturday morning.

A day on the campaign trail: Winnipeg's mayor, seeking a second term, does double duty

Malak Abas 12 minute read Preview

A day on the campaign trail: Winnipeg's mayor, seeking a second term, does double duty

Malak Abas 12 minute read Friday, Oct. 2, 2026

In the weeks leading up to the civic election, Scott Gillingham has been performing a juggling act: he’s running to be Winnipeg’s 45th mayor, while still serving as its 44th.

“If someone asks me about the campaign, I’m going to answer them. But I think for most people, I’m the mayor of Winnipeg, even if I’m showing up as a candidate,” Gillingham, 58, says. “I try to do all I can to maintain that distinction.”

The Free Press joined Gillingham on a recent rainy September Saturday on the campaign trail, where he served in both roles during an event-laden day. City council’s final meeting before the Oct. 28 election was days earlier.

In Winnipeg, it’s rare for an incumbent to be defeated. But Gillingham knows his win in 2022 wasn’t exactly a landslide — he won with 27.5 per cent of the vote — and he’s been thinking about his second term ever since.

Read
Friday, Oct. 2, 2026
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Mike Vogiatzakis has a house in the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews.

Mayoral candidate Vogiatzakis criticized for living outside Winnipeg

Malak Abas 4 minute read Preview

Mayoral candidate Vogiatzakis criticized for living outside Winnipeg

Malak Abas 4 minute read Friday, Oct. 2, 2026

A mayoral hopeful took heat from other candidates Friday for living outside Winnipeg while running in the civic election.

Mike Vogiatzakis’s primary residence is in the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews, about 25 kilometres north of Winnipeg — a community with its own mayor and councillors.

But the funeral director said he owns a home in Winnipeg where he divides his time, and he would move to the city full-time if elected mayor.

“It doesn’t matter where a person lives. Why are we dividing St. Andrews and Manitoba and Winnipeg? I’ve met the criteria to run for mayor,” Vogiatzakis said Friday morning.

Read
Friday, Oct. 2, 2026