The chief information officer for the BC Wildfire Service is moving on to a new role with the Thompson Nicola Regional District.

Kevin Skrepnek says he has taken a job as the regional district’s emergency program coordinator, based in Kamloops, which he will start in January.

“After nine fire seasons, two states of emergency, tens of thousands of kilometres travelled, countless tears shed and laughs had, I’m ending my time at (BC Wildfire Service),” Skrepnek says in a post on Twitter.

“My time at (BCWS) changed my life. I’ve worked with some of the most dedicated, intelligent, and humble people I’ve ever known. It’s been a privilege and an honour,” he went on to say.

Skrepnek joined the provincial wildfire service in July of 2011 as an information officer and was promoted to chief information officer in 2014.

He guided the provincial firefighting service through back-to-back record fire seasons in 2017 and 2018, with more than one million hectares burning and more than $600 million dollars spent to fight fires in those two summers, respectively.

In 2017 in particular, about 65,000 people were evacuated at some point during the summer and a provincial state of emergency was in place for 10 weeks.

NL News has reached out to Skrepnek for further comment.

Well, it’s offical: I’m the only person in this photo to leave their job voluntarily.

After nine fire seasons, two states of emergency, tens of thousands of kilometres travelled, countless tears shed and laughs had, I’m ending my time at @BCGovFireInfo

(1/2) pic.twitter.com/cxMQsgi4nb

— Kevin Skrepnek (@KevinSkrepnek) December 18, 2019