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 stands at 149.
The BC Wildfire Service posted on social media saying 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 were responding to the fires with the help of air support, adding that no structures were at risk from any of the new fires in the zone, which included one blaze described as a “single tree burning.”
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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 – that should be a “wake-up call” to citizens to pay attention to fire bans.
According to Krog, “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 only be bought in Nanaimo with a licence, on the day the provincial fire ban came into effect was “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 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 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.”
He added that although his city has been spared by wildfires so far, “our turn will no doubt come.”
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