The B.C. wildfire 2023 season is already down in history, as more than one million hectares have gone up in smoke.
According to the BC Wildfire Service’s records, this fire season is already at third most for total area burned.
Conditions and weather forecast for the next couple of months have officials extremely worried, as no significant rainfall is coming, and drought conditions are only expected to worsen.
“We really need to expect that July and August could be hot and dry for the entire two months,” Cliff Chapman said, BC Wildfire Service’s wildfire operations director.
“We may see very little rain.”
Chapman said the bulk of fire activity has been seen in northeastern B.C., which has not had a “break” from the fire season since it started early in mid-April.
“They’ve seen a little bit of rain but not nearly enough to an impact on the fires and potential new starts from lightning or human-caused activity,” he said.
Chapman said over the long weekend, 46 new wildfires ignited across the province, but thanks to wildfire crews, and the public for reporting, 35 of the fires have been stayed or are held.
Looking ahead, lightning is expected to ignite new wildfires in the next ten days.
“We are expecting an increase in fire starts over the coming days, primarily due to lightning in the forecast over the three to four days,” said Matt MacDonald, BC Wildfire Services’ lead forecaster.
“(On) Thursday, Friday, and Saturday … we will have three excessive days of wide-spread lightning across the province into very receptive fuels. We are heading into a very active pattern — we have heat, we got dryness and we will have lightning.”
Temperatures are expected to be above July averages which will last into next week. Three regions are under a heat warning on Wednesday — the North Coast, Fort Nelson and Fraser Canyon.
The BC Wildfire Service is urging the public to continue to report any smoke or wildfires they see, as it is a massive help for the service in finding and identifying new fires.
To report a wildfire, call 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on a cellphone. People can also download the BC Wildfire Service app to submit a picture of the fire they are reporting.
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