B.C. wildfire officials optimistic for a ‘favourable week’ for crews battling huge fires

BC Wildfire officials are optimistic Tuesday that it is going to be a “favourable week” for crews battling fires around the province.

Todd Nessman with the Service said at a media briefing Tuesday some areas have now received “upwards of 25 to 40 millimetres of rain.

“It doesn’t solve the problem but it helps,” he said.

This comes following a hot and blustery weekend, which saw a lot of fire growth.

Nessman added that another drying trend will start on Wednesday and Thursday but they are not expecting temperatures that areas saw last weekend.

“In terms of outlook, over the next six to 10 days, there are a series of lows coming through the province and that will help crews battle the large fires,” Nessman added.

The biggest area of concern for wildfire crews continues to be in the Interior where the massive White Rock Lake fire, Lytton Creek fire and July Mountain fire continue to burn out of control.

2:37 Dozens of structures lost to White Rock Lake fire

The White Rock Lake fire, an estimated 78,190 hectares in size, swept through the communities of Killiney and Ewings Landing on Monday.

It is estimated that about 70 properties have been burned or affected by that fire, in addition to the homes and structures already lost in Monte Lake and Westwold earlier this month.

The Coquihalla Highway reopened to essential traffic only on Tuesday at noon after being closed since Sunday evening between Hope and Merritt due to the July Mountain wildfire.

That fire has knocked out power to services along the Coquihalla and burned many kilometres of wildlife fencing along the side of the highway.

2:56 Officials assessing White Rock Lake wildfire damage as evacuees anxiously wait for news

Located southwest of Glenrosa, BC Wildfire said on Tuesday before lunch that the blaze is still classified as out of control.

On Monday, another 18 properties were placed on evacuation alert in the Central Okanagan on Monday night because of the Mount Law wildfire.

More than 260 wildfires are still burning in B.C. Tuesday.

There are 35 states of local emergency, 86 evacuation orders affecting 8,262 properties, along with 125 evacuation alerts affecting 22,729 properties.

3:08 The devastation and heartbreak of the White Rock Lake fire

Nessman said Tuesday that so far this fire season, there have been 1,516 fires ignited and about 825,000 hectares burned.

This is compared to the 10-year average of 1,036 fire starts and 201,000 hectares burned by this point in the season.

There are 3,830 personnel battling the fires around the province and officials said the wildfire situation remains extremely dangerous.

They are still asking everyone to stay away from any area under evacuation order or alert at this time.

RCMP said its officers continue to patrol areas under evacuation order and they have not received any reports on criminality related to evacuated areas.

Forty-three firefighters and technicians from the Yukon arrived in the province Monday, which means there are now 519 out-of-province firefighters battling blazes around the province, including crews from Australia, Mexico, the Prairies, central and eastern Canada.

-with files from The Canadian Press