Every bit of wildfire smoke needs to be reported. This was a fire on Knox Mountain in Kelowna July 1, 2023.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Peter Boyd
July 05, 2023 - 2:37 PM
The fear of wildfire this summer is greater in the BC’s northeast, along with parts of Vancouver Island and the west coast, but lightening is expected over much of the province in the coming days which could drastically broaden the range of new fires.
“We are expecting an increased number of fire starts in the coming days, particularly owing to the lightning that we have forecast over the next three to four days,” Matt MacDonald, lead forecaster for BC Wildfire Service, said during a news briefing today, July 5.
“On Thursday, Friday and Saturday we’re going to have three successive days of widespread lighting across the province into some very receptive fuels."
Lightning caused fires can take a few days to heat up and spark into significant blazes even with the current very dry conditions in BC forest.
The wildfire season started early this year, in mid-April, mostly in the northeast of the province and has not let up as drought conditions persist in much of BC, including the Okanagan where Kelowna, for example, got only 46.7% of its normal rainfall over the past eight months.
More than one million hectares have now been burned, already making 2023 the third worst fire season in BC history behind 2017 and 2018.
June was abnormally hot and dry and the province is heading into what are traditionally its driest months of July and August.
“We’ve seen those drought conditions that we’ve been speaking about from the beginning of season really persist and in fact deepen as we get into the core of our fire season,” MacDonald said. “We have pretty good confidence these warm temperatures we have seen are going to persist into the second half of July and the beginning of August.”
More than 85 new wildfires have started in BC over the past week including 46 over the Canada Day long weekend.
The good news is that 80% have been held or extinguished, helped to a great extent by calls from the public.
“I want to thank the public for being diligent in reporting smoke that you see on the land base,” Cliff Chapman, director of wildfire operations for BC Wildfire Service, said. “We really encourage and need the support of the public reporting fires.
"If you see smoke, please call 1-800-663-555 or *5555 on your cell phone and we will respond. Even if you think that fire has already been called in, we encourage you to dial that number and give us a heads up.”
Campfires are banned in BC starting at noon on Friday.
READ MORE: Campfire ban set to return in Kamloops and Okanagan regions
“I’d just like to emphasize the importance of being vigilant,” MacDonald said. “When you’re out there recreating in the back country, whether camping or on a motorized vehicle, report those fires just as soon as you see them because that will enable us to respond as quickly as possible and extinguish those fires.”
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