A summer heatwave is expected to make the wildfire situation in BC even more complicated over the coming weekend.
The BC Wildfire Service explained during its most recent news conference that the southern region of the province will experience challenging wildfire conditions thanks to a combination of higher temperatures, low humidity, and powerful gusts of wind – factors that will likely persist into the weekend. Certain parts of BC have reported temperatures in the mid to high 30s.
Rick Manwaring, BC’s deputy minister of forests, lands, and natural operations, added that fire behaviour has been observed to continue overnight, as temperatures and humidity levels failed to lower during the evenings as they typically do.
“It really limits our ability to make progress in the evening periods outside of the burning cycle,” he said.
CBC News reported that while cooler temperatures are expected on Sunday, strong winds have also been forecasted on that day, as well as the risk of lightning with no rain.
Meanwhile, the southern Interior community of Logan Lake, BC has been issued an evacuation order due to the encroaching Tremont Creek wildfire. Some 2,000 people are affected by the evacuation order.
As of Wednesday evening, there were 267 active wildfires in BC. About 142 of those fires have been categorized as “out of control.” The province has over 50 evacuation orders in place, with another 100 communities on evacuation alert. Since the start of the wildfire season on April 01 this year, almost 6,600 square kilometres of brush have burned in BC.
