The southeast region of B.C. is seeing a sudden flare-up in wildfires.
As of Friday afternoon, there were 280 wildfires across the province, with 78 listed within the Southeast Fire Centre. Of those, 64 are listed as out of control.
Many of the fires are centred around the Columbia River, with pockets of fires also located around Slocan Lake, Duncan Lake and Kootenay Lake.
Along Slocan Lake, around seven kilometres south of the community of Silverton, the Aylwin Creek fire has spawned an evacuation order and two evacuation alerts.
One week ago, there were only a handful of fires in the region. However, a series of lightning strikes earlier this week sparked the flare-up.
Statistics from BC Wildfire show that of the region’s 78 fires, 72 were started by lightning (92 per cent), three were human-caused and three had an undetermined cause.
The Southeast Fire Centre also has 188 wildland firefighters, though that does not include contract crews, pilots, heavy equipment operators, or public service staff.
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“Over the last number of weeks, we’ve been experiencing very high temperatures and low relative humidities that has, really, effectively dried our (forest) fuels out from any precipitation, any rain that we saw through the months of May and June,” said Cliff Chapman, director of provincial operations for BC Wildfire.
“What happened (Wednesday night) is we saw the introduction of lightning come into the south of the province – in particular, really the lower part of the Kamloops Fire Centre and really impacting the Southeast Fire Centre.”
Chapman estimated the number of lightning strikes at 1,500, “starting multiple fires, many of which we’ve had success at putting out and/or getting some control over.”
“Over the next 48 hours, we’re going to see that pattern again. And we’re going to see it in a more widespread way.”
He said Friday “will be a very challenging day with the potential of widespread lightning and very little rain. And with the fuels being as dry as they are, we anticipate that many of those lightning strikes that hit the ground will have the potential to start a fire.”
While 78 is a lot, the Southeast Fire Centre is second in terms of total wildfires, with the Prince George Fire Centre having the most in B.C. at 132.
The Kamloops Fire Centre was next at 34, followed by the Cariboo Fire Centre at 21, the Northwest Fire Centre at 13 and the Coastal Fire Centre at four.
According to BC Wildfire, 74 fires have started in the last 24 hours.
And there could be more, as Environment Canada says the current heat wave will continue for the next few days, bringing with it continued high temperatures.
Friday’s forecast features a high of 33 C plus a 60 per cent chance of showers or thunderstorms, leading to more possible lightning strikes.
The national weather agency forecasts sunny skies and highs of 34 C to 36 C from Saturday to Monday.
Also, with more wildfires now burning, say so long to clear skies.
“Due to the change in fire activity over the past 24 hours, smoke conditions are expected to increase,” BC Wildfire said.
“Most visibility challenges are from the fires in B.C. with some smoke travelling into the northeastern corner of the province from fires in Alberta.”
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