A long stretch of record-breaking heat coupled with a forecast of dry lightning and heavy winds has turned attention back to B.C. forests and the threat of wildfire.
“Right now across the Kamloops Fire Centre, we’re seeing moderate to high fire danger rating with pockets of extreme fire danger through Ashcroft, Lillooet and Merritt,” Ayday Coray, fire information officer with the BC Wildfire Service.
Offsetting that rating, however, is that there have been fewer fires started this year than is seasonally normal.
Coray said there have been 66 fires in B.C. since April 1, when the fire season started. This time last year, there were 145 fires already underway. The 10-year average for fires in B.C. is around 120 for this time of the summer. In the Kamloops Fire Centre alone, there are only four fires and three of them are under control.
“So compared to the long term, we are in a better place, but obviously with this warming and drying trend that we’re seeing, it’s just going to be exacerbating the existing drought conditions we have already across the Fire Centre, and making those fuels just more dry and flashy and available to burn,” she said.
Coray said the wildfire service is prepared for whatever may come next and can get boots on the ground quickly.
“This year, we actually had record recruitments across the province,” she said. “Our teams worked through the winter to increase not only the window that we were hiring and recruiting– we expanded into April which is longer than normal — but also offering just more opportunities for people to get in touch with local zones and staff members and learn more about our program before applying and committing to the job.”
The end result is also more firefighters. Coray said that there were a couple of crews hired across the province.
There’s also greater awareness among the public, who she described as the BC Wildfire Service’s “eyes and ears on the ground.”
“It is really critical when folks see either a wildfire or an unattended campfire that they report it through the new BC Wildfire Service app,” she said. “It has the ability you can send photos through and that has been extremely beneficial in helping us make those operational decisions that much quicker. So all of those plans the larger wildfire response.”
To report wildfires and open burning violations to the Wildfire Reporting Hotline at 1 800 663-5555 (toll-free) or *5555 on a cellphone.
More on Canada
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.