Insurance Bureau of Canada says just two huge wildfires — the Elephant Hill blaze west of Kamloops and a series of fires that combined into one massive wildfire in the Cariboo — caused more than 127-million dollars in insured damage. Figures show the Plateau Fire — a complex of six fires in bush west of Williams Lake — caused almost 100-million dollars in damage to properties, homes and businesses as it charred more than 52-thousand square kilometres of land. Damage estimated at 27-million dollars is attributed to the Elephant Hill fire which broke out near Ashcroft in early July and burned nearly two-thousand square kilometres — although it is now almost completely contained. Experts from the University of B-C and the University of Northern B-C, along with fire ecologists, have drafted a letter to the province saying they believe 2017’s record-setting fire season “represents the new normal and is part of a global trend of increasing mega-fires.”