From early ignition to record spending: Impactful 2023 wildfire season for the Prince George Fire Centre

PRINCE GEORGE – The last wildfire season will be down in the history books as the most destructive in British Columbia. Six people lost their lives, and more than 2.84 million hectares of forest and land burned. Most of the area burned was in the Prince George Fire Centre.

According to the BC Wildfire Service, they saw significant activity in the fires across the province. One of our larger fires was in Prince George Fire Center. The Dorney Creek wildfire exceeded the previous largest fire size on record and became the largest fire in history.

The fire season started in the Prince George Fire Centre in 2023 around April 1st, an entire month earlier than usual, and continued into October. Authorities spent a record-breaking amount on firefighting efforts in Prince George, which was 20 percent of what the province spent.