The Town of Golden says four homes to the south of the community were destroyed last week by the Dogtooth Forest Service Road wildfire.
In a news release Friday a spokesperson for the B.C. Rockies town, located about 200 kilometres east of Kamloops, said a total of 15 structures, including the homes, were lost to the fire on July 24.
“My deepest sympathies go out to those who have experienced the loss of their homes south of town,” Golden Mayor Ron Oszust said in the release.
The Dogtooth FSR wildfire, which is considered a wildfire of note — meaning it is highly visible and/or poses a threat to public safety — was discovered on July 22 and spurred evacuation orders for 107 properties south of Golden and the community of Parson.
Twenty properties near Parson remain on evacuation order, while more than 1,000 in the area are on evacuation alert due to the fire, which was burning over an area of almost 54 square kilometres as of Friday afternoon.
Following a period of wet, cooler weather at the start of the week, hot and dry conditions have set in again across the province, increasing fire activity.
There are currently more than 320 active wildfires in the province, almost 40 per cent of which are deemed out of control, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS). Nearly 1,700 firefighters are responding to the fires, alongside 189 aircraft.
New wildfires of note
The BCWS upgraded two fires near Kamloops to wildfires of note late Thursday, bringing the total number of wildfires of note in the province to eight.
“This is really just a label for us to be able to highlight those wildfires as we head into the long weekend,” Kamloops Fire Centre information officer Taylor Shantz said.
She says both the Dunn Creek and Sitkum Creek wildfires earned the designation because they are highly visible, but neither one poses a risk to the infrastructure at this time.
The Sitkum Creek wildfire about 130 kilometres east of Kamloops is burning over around 13 square kilometres. Shantz said crews are digging away long lines of organic material to “box in” and contain the fire this weekend.
The Dunn Creek Wildfire about 85 kilometres north of Kamloops is burning over around 23 square kilometres. Shantz said mapping in recent days has given crews a better understanding of its boundaries.
Evacuation orders have been in place for both areas since last week.
Hot, dry, smoky
The BCWS said in a situation report Friday it’s expecting a prolonged hot and dry spell.
Heat has already set in across much of southern B.C., with Environment Canada issuing heat warnings in areas including the Kootenays, the Okanagan, North and South Thompson, East Vancouver Island, the North and Central coast and Howe Sound.
Emelie Peacock with the BCWS said the service is expecting to see an increase in thunderstorms and lightning strikes — a major cause of wildfire ignitions — throughout southern B.C. starting Friday afternoon.
She added smoke drifting north from California wildfires could affect the wildfire response.
“It could challenge our aerial resources’ ability to work on wildfires due to visibility and safety concerns,” she said.
“On the positive side, the smoke that’s drifting up has a potential to cool down temperatures and that could possibly result in dampening that thunderstorm activity.”
Researchers expect human-caused climate change to drive more hot and dry weather.