B.C. Wildfire Services will lose a large portion of their crew in the coming weeks as many wildfire fighters and other service members prepare to return to school for the fall semester.

“Many of our employees are seasonal workers who return to their studies in the fall,” said BC's Chief Fire Information Officer, Kevin Srepnek. “It’s something we deal with every year, but will certainly be more challenging this year with such a bad fire season.”

To accommodate the large loss of workers, BC Wildfire Services will be looking to bring in more out of province and contract workers as well as additional aid from the Canadian Armed Forces.

Photo Credit: BC Wildfire Service.

However, BC Wildfire services will be fully staffed this weekend when the forecast calls for up to 80 km/hr wind gusts, with a high chance of lightning across B.C.

The province has also extended its state of emergency, which will remain in place until September 1st at the earliest.

“The extended state of emergency does make it the longest state of emergency B.C. has every implemented, passing the six weeks a state of emergency was in effect for the 2003 wildfire season,” said B.C.'s Executive Director of Emergency Management Chris Duffy.

The state of emergency gives agencies, such as Emergency Management BC, the fire commissioner, the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, and the RCMP the authority, under the Wildfire Act, to take every action necessary to fight the wildfires and protect residents and their communities.

As of Friday morning, there are 138 wildfires burning in B.C., with 4,400 people still out of their home due to 27 evacuation orders and 40 evacuation alerts impacting approximately 20,700 people.

As of Thursday afternoon, $321.6 million had been spent by the B.C. Wildfire Service to fight the fires.