There are 396 active wildfires burning throughout British Columbia.
And one-quarter of those are in one corner of the province.
As of Saturday morning, there were 101 wildfires in the Southeast Fire Centre, 77 of which were out of control.
That equates to 76 per cent: the largest regional percentage by far.
Northwest Fire Centre
- Total wildfires: 8
- Out of control: 4 (50 per cent)
Prince George Fire Centre
- Total wildfires: 156
- Out of control: 53 (34 per cent)
Cariboo Fire Centre
- Total wildfires: 44
- Out of control: 16 (36 per cent)
Kamloops Fire Centre
- Total wildfires: 83
- Out of control: 53 (64 per cent)
Southeast Fire Centre
- Total wildfires: 101
- Out of control: 77 (76 per cent)
Coastal Fire Centre
- Total wildfires: 4
- Out of control: 1 (25 per cent)
And, unfortunately, the news doesn’t get any better for those living in the Kootenays.
Along with issuing a smoky skies bulletin that covers most of the region, Environment Canada is forecasting hot temperatures for the next week.
The national weather agency is projecting a mix of sun and cloud for Saturday, along with a 30 per cent chance of showers, but after that it’s nothing but mainly sunny skies and highs between 27 C and 35 C.
So much for this week’s reprieve, which saw welcomed clouds and showers for much of B.C.’s Southern Interior after three straight weeks of baking heat.
Kim Wright, a fire information officer in the province’s Southeast Fire Centre, says communities like Castlegar will see daytime temperatures again in the mid-30s next week.
“While we are experiencing a brief reprieve from the significant and aggressive fire conditions that we had over the last week,” said Wright, “we are expecting this pattern of cooler, more humid conditions to not last more than a day or two.”
– With files from the Canadian Press