B.C. continues to see more wildfires spark across the province, as cooler weather brought wind and lightning to tinder-dry areas.
The BC Wildfire Service says that as of Wednesday morning, there were 107 fire starts in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of wildfires in the province to 430.
The service adds a further 83 fires were put out in the past day.
About 80 per cent of the fires were started by lightning, and about six per cent were caused by humans. The BCWS says recent thunderstorms brought 58,000 lightning strikes, and they expect to see new fire starts from those over the next few days.
Over 258 fires are currently classified as “out of control.”
The wildfire service says local planes and helicopters, as well as aircraft from the Yukon, Ontario, Quebec, and Alaska, have joined the firefight, with almost 100 air tanker missions from July 18 to 21 dropping 5.4 million litres of suppressant.
People using bodies of water near out-of-control fires such as Shawnigan Lake adjacent to the Old Man Lake wildfire on Vancouver Island have been warned to “keep well away” from aircraft either skimming water or operating otherwise in the area.
The Shetland Creek is continuing to burn out of control west of Kamloops. It’s nearing 200 square kilometres in size and has so far destroyed six homes.
Near Quesnel, the Antler Creek wildfire has exploded in size over the last couple of days. The BCWS says the Antler Creek Wildfire is considered “out-of-control” and sits at 14,283 hectares as of Tuesday night, almost five times bigger than Monday night. Evacuation orders are still in place for the Barkerville, Wells and Bowron Lake park areas.
An evacuation alert has been upgraded to an evacuation order in the North Okanagan due to wildfire activity. The Regional District of North Okanagan says the order is for the east side of Sugar Lake due to the Sitkum Creek Wildfire, based on recommendations from the BC Wildfire Service. The city says the change is because of “immediate danger to life safety.”
“All lands east of Sugar Lake, from the southern end to the northern tip, and from the east shore to a line north south-through Initiative Peak. This region includes all sites within Sugar Lake Resort at 1630 Sugar Lake Road,” it said.
According to BC Wildfire Services, the Sitkum Creek Wildfire, 63 kilometres northeast of Vernon is “out-of-control” at the size of 1,501 hectares, as of Tuesday afternoon.
Around Slocan Lake, the Komonko Creek and Aylwin Creek wildfires are now over a combined six square kilometres. The fires have closed a part of Highway 6.
Meanwhile, the City of Revelstoke issued an evacuation alert due Tuesday night due to a wildfire in the vicinity of Alpha Creek. The alert was issued for the north end of Armstrong Lake to Trout Lake, and Trout Lake up Lardeau Creek to Cup Creek. This includes Ferguson, Five Mile, and CM Galena.
The city says the alert is issued because of the health, safety and welfare of people in the areas.
–With files from Aastha Pandey-Kanaan