B.C. residents remain on high alert with 49 wildfires sparked in just 48 hours

British Columbians remain on high alert Friday with wildfires burning around the province.

There are currently 136 active fires with 49 of those sparked in just the last two days.

These are mostly located in the Interior and towards the north of the province near Prince George.

3:40 Ottawa to collaborate on B.C. wildfire crisis response

There were roughly 12,000 lightning strikes on Thursday, Cliff Chapman with the B.C. Wildfire Service said Friday afternoon.

He said the forecast for the next 48 hours appears it will remain hot, which will be challenging for crews fighting the fires.

Right now, there are 1,362 homes under evacuation order in the province due to the wildfires and an additional 950 homes are under evacuation alert.

About 77,000 hectares have burned so far this year and Chapman said the province is about three weeks ahead of its usual drying season.

An outbreak of lightning Thursday evening lasted overnight in the Thompson and Shuswap regions but tapered considerably Friday morning.

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The greatest risk of lightning in the Southern Interior Friday will be in the Columbia region in the afternoon.

The Kootenay, Thompson and Okanagan regions could also see some isolated thunder, Global BC meteorologist Mark Madryga said.

Smoke from the wildfires in the Interior will remain an issue for many days. Madryga said, adding that some high-level smoke is edging into the Lower Mainland and is likely to remain through the weekend.

1:56 Possible state of emergency for B.C. wildfires?

It was a scary evening for some Kamloops residents Thursday as some were forced to flee as a wildfire came close to town.

Residents in the Valleyview and Juniper Ridge region left their homes but luckily tactical evacuation orders were rescinded just after midnight.

The City of Kamloops said the blaze was sparked by several lightning strikes.

It is believed lightning is responsible for a fire Thursday night near Merritt that sparked along Highway 5A towards Kamloops.

Crews were spotted on the hillside fighting the blaze, which is believed to have calmed down substantially overnight.

No evacuation order has been implemented.