Prince George, B.C. – It was another costly wildfire season in the province of British Columbia.

As of October 5, the Province said 1,823 fires burned a total of 304,649 hectares and $277,908,183 was spent on fire suppression efforts.

Of these fires, 573 were human-caused burning over 57,000 hectares of forest.

Premier Christy Clark offered a public thank-you to Wildfire Service Crews today.

“It takes a special kind of courage to walk towards a fire, armed only with an axe and a can of gas. British Columbia owes a debt to BC Wildfire Service staff and crews for all the long hours, dedication, and bravery they showed during the 2015 fire season. They kept a lot of people safe, and prevented a lot of families from losing their homes.”

The BC Wildfire Service employed over 1,600 total staff this year and also had the support of over 800 contract firefighting personnel from across Canada as well as Australia, South Africa and the United States.

The amount of money spent in 2015 was well above the 10 year average of $170.4 million yet just shy of the $298 million spent last year.