For over a month, sporadic wildfires have been burning across British Columbia, forcing haze into cities, the hills of the province to burn, and air advisories which kept people indoors.
There were 19 wildfires of note currently burning in the province according to the B.C. wildfire website Tuesday, among dozens of new and existing fires.
One of the first notable fires occurred in late June, in the Elaho Valley about 67 kilometres west of Pemberton, when a 700 hectare fire broke out.
That was June 19 – since then there have been hundreds of smaller fires across the province with some leading to evacuation orders.
READ MORE: Global BC’s full fire coverage
And at least some of the professionals charged with putting out the fires saw the busy fire season coming. Firefighters at the Kamloops Fire Centre told Global News in June that the rains they usually rely on to stave off a bad season never came.
“It’s definitely going to be an interesting season for the Kamloops Fire Centre,” Fire Information Officer Kelsey Winters said. “Typically we say we depend on the June rains and we haven’t seen those rains so far this year. We’re going to depend on the public to be very careful with their outdoor fire use and make sure our crews are ready for it.”
The Elaho Valley fire, like others in Nanaimo, Kelowna, Harrison Lake, and four brush fires in West Vancouver were caused by humans — sometimes, by discarded cigarettes.
WATCH: How quickly can a discarded cigarette start a fire?
As 180 wildfires burned in the province, Steve Thomson, B.C.’s Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources, said on July 6 that the 2015 wildfire season is the most challenging he’s seen.
“This is the earliest start so we’re having conditions now you don’t normally see,” he said.
WATCH: The smoky wildfire haze is lingering over Metro Vancouver causing breathing problems and dangers for many. Elaine Yong reports.
As the fires continued to spread, people in Vancouver and the Okanagan Valley had to deal with the side effects – a thick blanket of haze resting on their cities.
READ MORE: Fires create haze blanketing B.C. in sea of yellow and orange
The B.C. government was forced to step up its wildfire fight by recalling the recently retired, red-and-white Martin Mars water bomber. The bomber, stationed in Port Alberni, B.C., was originally built for the U.S. Navy during the Second World War but had been fighting fires for more than 50 years.
Once the bomber was brought out of retirement, its first mission was to douse the seven hectare fire east of Nelson on July 18.
Record temperatures led to the dry conditions across much of B.C. throughout June and July causing a spike in wildfires. But the number of fires burning last Friday was significantly less than earlier in July. The B.C. Wildfire Service said Friday that 159 fires were still burning, down seven from the previous day, and 38 fewer than the previous week.
But fires are still burning, including one near Kelowna which led to the evacuation of roughly 70 homes along Westside Road. A lightning strike started the fire Sunday, but it flared up Monday due to high winds and has since ballooned to nearly 175 hectares.
WATCH: Video of the Westside Road fire provided by Cassandra Hinchliffe.
– With files from Global News’ reporters Amy Judd, Justin McElroy, Jon Azpiri, LAuren Pullen, Neetu Garcha, and The Canadian Press
Comments