At least five new wildfires were ignited by lightning in British Columbia since Friday. Smoke rises from a ground fire near Lillooet, B.C., in an undated handout photo published to social media.

Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-BC Wildfire Service, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

At least five new wildfires were ignited by lightning in British Columbia since Friday, and combined with roughly a dozen other new blazes, the total number burning across the province now stands at more than 150.

The BC Wildfire Service posted on social media detailing how the blazes were sparked by lightning and discovered in the Lillooet Fire Zone, warning more fires may pop up due to hot weather and wind.

It said crews are responding to the fires with the help of air support, adding that no structures are at risk from any of the new fires in the zone, which include one blaze described as a "single tree burning."

A campfire ban in B.C. came into effect Friday, which covers the entire province other than Haida Gwaii.

A brush fire caused by youths setting off fireworks at a popular park in Nanaimo, B.C., the day the ban took effect has the city's mayor on edge about the province's vulnerability to wildfires as the season heats up.

Leonard Krog said Saturday that a group of young people gathered at Piper's Lagoon Park caused the blaze, which he said should be a "wake-up call" to citizens to pay attention to fire bans. And although his city has been spared so far, unlike communities in the B.C. interior, he says "our turn will no doubt come."

Krog said "some idiots" set off fireworks in the park and the brush fire damaged undergrowth in a "very sensitive ecological area."

He said setting off fireworks, which can't be bought without a license in Nanaimo, on the day the provincial fire ban came into effect "is the height of stupidity and arrogance."

"I am frankly, as mayor, disgusted that anybody of any age would think it appropriate, for whatever reason, to be that stupid in the middle of a hot, dry summer," he said.

Krog said Piper's Lagoon Park is a popular area and visiting the site of the blaze Saturday morning was "very upsetting."

"These bans and regulations aren't in place just because we love banning and regulating things. They're in place to protect public assets and unique public assets," he said.

"This may be the start of, you know, two or three months of hot, dry weather, and the fire at Piper's points out how quickly serious consequences can flow from a few acts of stupidity."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2024.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2024