In an effort to mitigate future pressures on wildfire crews, the B.C. government is activating a provincewide ban on campfires.
Hundreds of lightning strikes in many parts of British Columbia almost tripled the number of active wildfires in the province over the weekend, with most burning in central and northern B.C.
The campfire ban is necessary to protect resources as government officials say the wildfire situation has taken a significant turn over the weekend.
“Effective (Monday) at 3 p.m., Category 1 campfires will be prohibited in all areas of the province with an exception for Haida Gwaii,” B.C.’s Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma said.
“Human-caused wildfires are completely preventable and divert critical resources away from lightning-caused wildfires.”
Ma is encouraging British Columbians to continue to report any wildfires they see and to use the BC Wildfire Service app to upload photos and information.
The B.C. government has also declared a state of emergency for the unincorporated Stikine region. An evacuation order is in place for specific areas in the region affected by the Little Blue River wildfire.
The Stikine region is B.C.’s only unincorporated region which means the province is responsible for implementing evacuation orders for the region, which requires a state of emergency.
There are 311 active wildfires burning across the province, with 115 starting over the past weekend due dry lightning. Currently, there are 12 evacuation orders in place affecting roughly 156 people.
B.C. continues to coordinate additional out-of-province resources through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. International personnel from Mexico and the United States are deployed to the Prince George Fire Centre and the province has contracted additional aviation resources in recent days.
Most of the province is experiencing drought conditions, which are expected to worsen over the coming days with no rain forecasted.
The wildfire service is bracing for challenging conditions, with lightning storms still in the forecast for most of the week, as well as heat warnings or above-average temperatures through the central Interior.
The majority of B.C.’s water basins are now at Level 4 drought. British Columbians are asked to stay up to date with water restrictions with their local municipalities and regional districts.
According to the government, if water conservation measures do not achieve sufficient results and drought conditions continue to worsen, temporary protection orders under the Water Sustainability Act may be issued to water licensees to support drinking water for communities and avoid significant or irreversible harm to aquatic ecosystems.
Some of the fires are threatening rural highways, including Highway 27 south of Fort St. James and Highway 77 north of Fort Nelson, while flames first spotted last Thursday near the Yukon boundary now cover 300 square kilometres close to Highway 37 but aren’t immediately affecting the link to Watson Lake and Whitehorse.
Environment Canada posted a severe thunderstorm watch for the Fort Nelson and Peace River regions, the same area where large fires forced evacuations in July.
The weather office noted daily high-temperature records were set in the province Sunday, including a high of 33 C in Fort Nelson, two degrees hotter than the previous record for that northeastern community, set 64 years ago.
Forecasters said Nakusp in B.C.’s southeast also posted a sizzling 37.2 C on Sunday, edging its old mark set 22 years earlier, and while no daily highs were posted in Yukon, the territory remains under heat warnings stretching almost 500 kilometres from its boundaries with B.C. and the Northwest Territories north to Mayo.
— with files from Canadian Press