Firefighters hope rain, cooler weather in B.C. will provide wildfire relief

Wildfire fighting crews are expecting showers and colder weather this weekend but say winds and lightning may still keep crews busy.

“Thankfully, most of that lightning did come with rain yesterday, so of those 67 fires, almost all of them are under a hectare in size right now. We’ve had good success in terms of getting them contained.”

Skrepnek said there were 50 new fires Saturday. There are currently 251 wildfires burning across B.C. and Skrepnek expects the cooler weather will provide some respite.

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“It’s definitely going to be, at the very least, a temporary relief for us,” said Skrepnek. “Cooler temperatures, rain…it’s definitely going to give us an opportunity to get on to some of these large incidents, make some progress.”

Environment Canada is forecasting lower temperatures and possible rain over the weekend in Williams Lake, Pemberton and Nelson – areas where fires have been devouring forests – as well as other parts of B.C.

Smoke has also dissipated across the province, and air quality advisories were lifted for the Sunshine Coast and Sea-to-Sky corridor Saturday morning. Advisories for Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and parts of Vancouver Island have also ended.

Skrepnek said Sunday the Puntzi Lake fire is more than 7,000 hectares in size and is 30 per cent contained. On Saturday, the Cariboo Regional District expanded its evacuation order and alert for the area. Approximately 90 properties are under evacuation order and 183 properties are under evacuation alert.

-with files from Canadian Press