The agency monitoring wildfires in British Columbia says eight new fires have sprung up in the southern regions of the Northwest Fire Centre after more than 400 lightning strikes hit the area on Friday night.
The BC Wildfire Service says four of the new fires are burning west of the Witset community, which is home to about 611 on-reserve members.
BCWS says while the fires are all small in size, assessing some of them has been “a challenge” due to their remote locations.
More than 380 active wildfires are burning across the province, and a summary from BC Wildfire says there is a “significant chance” of lightning in the Southern Interior which could both start new fires and fuel existing ones.
There are six wildfires of note in B.C., including the Hullcar Mountain blaze that’s burning around 13 kilometres northwest of Armstrong and is 716 hectares in size.
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BCWS also warned travellers that smoke may be visible from the communities of Armstrong and Enderby as a planned ignition on the Hullcar Mountain wildfire was underway Saturday.
Information officer Darcy MacLeod said on Friday that they had to pause the proposed planned ignition because of thunderstorms that were passing by this fire, which brought unfavourable weather conditions.
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MacLeod said crews finished building control lines around the north side of the fire on Friday, and about 70 firefighters were responding to the Hullcar Mountain wildfire over the weekend, with crews working 24 hours a day to ensure the control lines were holding.
Some positive news was shared by the agency on Saturday, with the wildfire services saying they have “achieved significant containment” along the north and southwest flanks of the Ponderosa FSR wildfire that’s burning near Slocan this past week.
Crews completed two planned ignitions with success in the area by removing fuels on the forest floor, reducing the risks of uncontrolled fire spreading to the south due to winds.
The Ponderosa FSR fire is burning an estimated area of about 1,548 hectares with crews continuing to mop up areas where ignitions took place.
The province also issued an air quality advisory on Saturday for most of the Southern Interior and parts of Northern B.C., noting these regions will be affected by wildfire smoke over the next 24 to 48 hours.
Other affected areas include Central and North Okanagan, Fort Nelson, Fraser Canyon, South Thompson, West Kootenay and Whistler.
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