KELOWNA – The recent, marked increase in wildfire activity in the Okanagan has the BC Wildfire Service urging people to be extremely cautious with fire this weekend.
“This past week, we all saw how quickly the wildfire situation can change and how easily fires can spread,” said Lands and Natural Resource Operations minister Steve Thomson in a news release.
“During this period of elevated wildfire risk, I ask all British Columbians to assist our BC Wildfire Service ground crews and air crews by being extra careful with any allowed fire use.”
The danger rating is mostly moderate to high through most of the province but it’s extreme in some areas.
The Wildfire Service has these campfire safety tips:
* Campfires cannot be larger than 0.5 metres high by 0.5 metres wide.
* Have a hand tool or at least eight litres of water available nearby to
completely extinguish your campfire.
* Do not light a campfire or keep it burning in windy conditions. Weather
can change quickly and the wind may carry embers to other combustible
material.
* Maintain a fireguard around the campfire. This is a fuel-free area
where all flammable materials (grass, kindling, etc.) have been removed.
* You must not leave a campfire unattended for any length of time.
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* You must ensure that the campfire is completely extinguished and the
ashes are cold to the touch before leaving the area for any length of
time.
People using motorized vehicles in the back-country are advised to use caution as exhaust pipe heat can ignite fires, especially in tall, dry grass.
British Columbia has spent $103 million fighting wildfires across the province since the fire season began April 1.
Information officer Claire Allen of the BC Wildfire Service says that is less than half the amount spent over the same period last year.
She says $232 million was spent battling 1,772 fires between April and the end of August in 2015, while just 936 blazes have scorched about 990 square kilometres of woodland this year.
That compares to the nearly 3,000 square kilometres of bush burned across BC in 2015.
Most of the 60 wildfires currently burning in the province are in the Coastal Fire Centre area.
-With files from The Canadian Press-
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