B.C.’s tinder-dry weather is not helping fire crews battling wildfires that are burning thousands of hectares in this province.
“What has been somewhat unusual has been the fire behaviour we’ve been seeing out there, how intensely they’ve been burning, how quickly they’ve grown is more of a pattern we’d be seeing later in the summer,” Kevin Skrepnek with the BC Wildfire Service said.
WATCH: Crews battle two B.C. wildfires
“We’ve had unseasonably hot and dry conditions and we’re expecting that to continue over the weekend and that’s really been exacerbating these fires.”
There are eight fires of note in the province.
The two fires that officials are keeping a close eye on are the Allie Lake fire burning northwest of Kamloops and the Xusum Creek fire near Lillooet.
Those fires have already forced evacuation orders for 14 properties and evacuation alerts for another 51.
The Allie Lake fire has burned more than 2,100 hectares, prompting an evacuation alert for a handful of properties in the area, according to Skrepnek.
The Xusum Creek fire prompted the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District to order evacuations of two properties along the narrow and twisting Highline Road, in addition to evacuation alerts for almost 30 other addresses.
Firefighters have made progress on the Xusum Creek fire, which is now 25 per cent contained.
Just over 200 fires have been recorded since the season began on April 1 and the wildfire service website shows the fire risk for most of B.C. is now rated moderate to high, with several parts of the province rated at extreme risk.
A number of wildfires north of Fort St. John and west of Fort Nelson in northeastern B.C. are also active, but they are not threatening any structures.
The largest, an 11-square-kilometre blaze at Tommy Lakes, was believed to be sparked by lightning.
— With files from The Canadian Press