Scores of properties near Spences Bridge, B.C., have been evacuated as an out-of-control wildfire surges amid scorching temperatures and ongoing drought.
It comes following a 24-hour period in which the wildfire situation has worsened considerably across the province.
As of Thursday afternoon, there were 224 active wildfires in British Columbia, 83 of which started in the last 24 hours.
Fifty-one per cent of those fires were listed as out of control.
Of greatest concern is the Shetland Creek fire south of Spences Bridge, which has ballooned to more than 5,000 hectares (50 square kilometres) in size after merging with the nearby Teit Creek fire.
At a morning briefing, B.C. Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma said the fire grew “quickly and considerably” overnight.
“This wildfire has proven to be extremely volatile and everyone in the area should leave immediately if they have not already done so,” she said.
“We are on the precipice of a very challenging 72 hours,” added BC Wildfire Service director of provincial operations Cliff Chapman.
“We saw lightning come through yesterday that’s now being replaced with 30-plus-degree weather over the course of the next 24 hours. And we anticipate more lightning.”
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The Thompson-Nicola Regional District has issued evacuation orders for 76 properties in the Venables Valley area north of Spences Bridge, a community about 65 kilometres northwest of Merritt.
Residents are being directed to an emergency services reception centre in Cache Creek.
“The last update I received, there was no impact to structures although they are threatened, and we’ll be focusing our efforts through our incident management team and ground resources trying to protect those structures today,” Chapman said.
The Cook’s Ferry Indian Band also expanded an evacuation order for the same fire to reserves along the Thompson River south of Ashcroft.
Both fires are believed to be lightning-caused and were first spotted on Friday.
Lightning is also believed to be responsible for a surge of new fire activity across B.C.’s southwest.
Seven new wildfires broke out around the city of Nelson in the West Kootenay region, though none have led to any evacuation orders or alerts.
“As the days progress, it’s possible we’ll get more in the area but from this system, we will likely see more fires detected through the coming days from this activity, not just in the Kootenay Lake zone, but also the Arrow zone and possibly others,” fire information officer Kim Wright said.
Lightning is also believed to be responsible for another cluster of small fires burning near the Village of Silverton and on both sides of Slocan Lake.
Eleven rural properties were placed under an evacuation order, while 91 others were under an evacuation alert.
BC Wildfire Service crews, local firefighters and skimmer planes were actioning the fires.
The BC Wildfire Service had 800 personnel on the ground, joined by specialists from Australia and New Zealand.
Twenty-five heat warnings remained in place on Thursday, including for Howe Sound and Whistler, the Fraser Canyon, parts of the Thompson, Okanagan and Kootenay regions, inland sections of the north and central coasts, the northeast corner of B.C. and much of the central Interior.
The forecast for Cache Creek, north of the Shetland Creek wildfire, shows a daily high of 40 C on Thursday, 38 C on Friday and 40 C over the weekend.
As of Wednesday evening, virtually every region of British Columbia was listed with a fire danger rating of “High” or “Extreme.”
“Periods of heat and drought increase the risk of wildfires as we have seen over the last several days. We have seen a number of new wildfires started by lightning,” Ma said.
The wildfire service says a storm brought lightning to the southeast corner of the province on Wednesday, sparking high-elevation fires through the Arrow and Kootenay Lake fire zones.
The agency remains concerned about the risk of thunderstorms with dry lightning strikes in B.C.’s interior, particularly in southern parts of the Cascade Range as well as the Columbias and the Robson Valley area near B.C.’s boundary with Alberta.
Winds are also expected to pick up in the Kamloops fire centre, particularly in the Fraser Canyon, as well as the Cariboo fire centre in central B.C. and the Peace region in the northeast.
The service adds that light showers are forecast for the far northwest, but the rest of the province will remain dry into the weekend.
It says widespread thunderstorms and strong winds are expected Friday and Saturday.
— with files from The Canadian Press