FILE PHOTO - Alberta and northeast British Columbia are the hot spots for wildfires this spring due to unusually dry and hot weather. But expect those conditions to move into the Thompson-Okanagan region in the coming days.

(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)

Alberta and northeast British Columbia are the hot spots for wildfires this spring due to unusually dry and hot weather. But expect those conditions to move into the Thompson-Okanagan region in the coming days.

“We’re seeing drying of our fuels everywhere,” Cliff Chapman, director of wildfire operations for BC Wildfire Service, said during a news briefing today, May 16. “What that means for B.C. is that, yes, the fire hazard is significant and extreme in the northeast of the province. Slowly but surely, through the week, we’re seeing that hazard increase all the way down to the south, to the U.S. border.”

Chapman says the highest risk will come on the Victoria Day long weekend.

“Likely, around holiday Monday, we are going to see a break down of this high pressure ridge,” Chapman said. “It’s going to bring temperatures back closer to seasonal.

"Unfortunately, when a ridge breaks down, you also see high winds and the potential of thunderstorms – and it doesn’t always come with precipitation on the first day. So, what that means for B.C. is that we have a high likelihood of seeing fire starts across the province, depending on where that lightening strikes on holiday Monday.”

A campfire ban will take effect this Thursday in the Prince George fire district, which reaches up to the border with the Yukon and North West Territories.

At this point, campfires have not triggered fires in northeastern B.C., Chapman said. If conditions warrant, campfire bans can quickly be imposed in other areas of the province as the heat wave continues.

So far this year, there have been 206 wildfires in B.C., a little higher than the 10-year average for this time of 162 fires.

This year’s wildfires have burned more than 50,000 hectares, which is dramatically higher than the 10-year average of 11,000 ha for this time of year.

Crucial to having a manageable fire season this year, given the already extremely dry conditions, will be June rains, Chapman said. June is normally the wettest month of the year.

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