Prince George honoured for welcoming more than 10,000 evacuees last summer during wildfires

More than 45,000 British Columbians were displaced during last year's wildfires and now Prince George is being recognized for itsefforts to help many of those evacuees.

The entire town of 100 Mile House was placed under evacuation order last summer and many people headed to Prince George.

On Monday,Emergency Management B.C. and the mayor of 100 Mile House thanked the residents and government of Prince George for their support during the emergency and presented commemorative plaques to the city.

"As a mayor, sending your community out is a tough decision to make," said Mitch Campsall, mayor of 100 Mile House.

"It's an amazing feeling when you sign that document to evacuate your community, you know that they are going to a safe community, you know they are going to be well looked after."

'Opened their doors'

Residents of 100 Mile House were displaced for a couple weeks, Campsall told CBC's Nicole Oud, and were welcomed by citizens and businesses in Prince George during that time.

"They just opened their doors, they did whatever they could," he said. "The whole community stood behind it."

More than10,000 evacuees headed to Prince George last summer.

"I know there were a lot of challenges, but there were a lot of innovations as well," said Stan Harvey,regional manager ofthe northeast region at the council meeting on Monday.

"It's absolutely unprecedented."

With files from Daybreak North and Nicole Oud.