Prince George, B.C. – 2015 continues to be an expensive wildfire season in British Columbia.

Chief fire information officer Kevin Skrepnek from the BC Wildfire Service says $162 million has been spent since the season started April 1.

That’s considerably higher than the $102 million spent at this point last year, and around two and a half times higher than the entire budget for this fire season ($63 million).

And though a recent downturn in the weather has meant the number of fire personnel has dropped from 2,200 earlier this month to 1,800 today, he says that number could rise again in a hurry.

“Certainly we still have August ahead of us and with warm and dry conditions that number could bounce back up.”

Skrepnek adds that all the money used to fight fires comes from contingency resources and says the Premier has made clear the province will always spend what’s necessary.

“And to put it into context, the 2014 fire season our end budget spent was $290 million.”