New wildfire app to provide real-time fire season information

The B.C. Wildfire Service is launching its new wildfire app, aimed at providing consistent, accurate and timely information about wildfires when they occur.

A statement from the wildfire service says the app can provide real-time wildfire information and an interactive map that can be customized to display specific data.

It could include everything from current fire danger ratings, active fires and evacuation orders or alerts to B.C. Parks closures and advisories or closures listed on DriveBC, the province's website providing road conditions.

The map can also be customized to provide a "near me" function, displaying wildfire and other information within a 50-kilometre radius of the user's location.

Statistics, the latest advisories and even a fire reporting tool are on the app, which is available for Android and Apple devices and can be downloaded for free.

The wildfire service says the new app complements its existing website and social media channels.