By Canadian Press

A by the numbers look at B.C.’s record setting 2017 wildfire season

Dec 23, 2017 | 5:15 AM

VANCOUVER — The 2017 wildfire season in British Columbia set records as the most destructive in the province’s recorded history. Here is a look at the season by the numbers:

12,164 square kilometres: Area burned, equivalent to more than a third of Vancouver Island. The worst level of destruction since 1958 when 8,560 square kilometres burned.

$562.7 million: Estimated cost of fire suppression. The previous record was $382 million in 2009.

45,000: Approximate number of people displaced at the peak of the fires.

65,000: Total number of people displaced over the entire wildfire season. The previous record was in 2003 when about 45,000 people were forced from their homes.

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70 days: Duration of the state of emergency that was declared on July 7. The last time wildfires prompted the province to announce a state of emergency was in 2003, which lasted 43 days.

1,351: Total number of wildfires.

176: Number of fires that started over a single 48-hour period on July 7 and 8.

4,700: Approximate number of personnel deployed at the height of the wildfires, including firefighters and support staff. The tally encompasses the more than 1,200 personnel from outside the province or Canada and the more than 2,000 contractors who helped out.

300: Approximate number of Canadian Armed Forces personnel who assisted.

236: Aircraft deployed, including planes and helicopters.

Zero: People who died in the fires.

Source: BC Wildfire Service

The Canadian Press