Just because you've been issued an evacuation order doesn't mean you have to leave your home - they're called orders but residents cannot be legally compelled to comply in this province.
"If somebody's absolutely refusing to leave, there is nothing we can do other than acknowledge it in writing," said Mike Morris, the MLA for Prince George-Mackenzie and B.C's outgoing solicitor general and public safety minister.
"Any of the authorities that are going through there will have some paperwork for them to sign and we'll just tough it out from there."
That this fact is so little known may be one of the reasons why the vast majority of British Columbians comply when told one has been put in place. But Morris, who held the job up until Tuesday when the New Democrats were sworn in as the new government, believes common sense plays the most significant role.
"If we do our job properly and provide everybody with the latest, up-to-date information and impress upon them how dangerous the situation is, they will come to the same conclusion that we will - that they have to get the heck out of there," Morris said.
Those who remain put a significant strain on resource, Morris said. But he has heard at least one story of someone who regretted the move.
"I do recall one, I think he was a rancher or a farmer from a year or two ago that stayed behind," Morris said. "And the fire came through and it absolutely scared the heck out of him.
"It just sucked all the oxygen out. He said the noise, the heat, everything was so tremendous that that individual would be a good spokesman for everybody else."
Under Manitoba's Emergency Measures Act, everyone must leave if an evacuation order is imposed. A similar measure was considered during a review of B.C.'s Emergency Program Act in 2016 but no change to the legislation was has been made in that regard.
That's fine with Morris.
"This is a free country, people have the choice of making up their minds based on the information they have," he said.
With the rare exception, once out of an area covered by an evacuation order, those who have left cannot go back in until it's lifted.
"The only people that are allowed in are the ones with permits and the ones that are permitted are those that are part of the emergency services or have employment that they must absolutely attend within that evacuated area," Morris said.
Part of the effort to keep people out is to make sure every side road off a highway into an enclosed area is has a checkpoint on it, he said.
However, for most it's a moot point, according to Morris, who said there has been a 99-per-cent compliance rate.
