BC Wildfire Service warns that fire season isn’t over yet
Global News
Temperatures are about 5 to 8 degrees above normal for this time of year, and there’s been little to no rain in several parts of B.C. in weeks.
Seemingly endless summer conditions in British Columbia have prompted a warning that this year’s “very unique fire season” in the province is not yet over.
Hot and dry conditions persist, something the superintendent of the BC Wildfire Service’s predictive services said is “quite problematic,” and creates conditions for potential ignitions across B.C.
Neal McLoughlin said the season was unusual because it started slowly and was damp, with delayed snowmelt, then it transitioned into hot, dry conditions by July that continues to persist into October.
Temperatures are about five to eight degrees above normal for this time of year, and there’s been little to no rain in several parts of B.C. in weeks.
“We are starting to switch the status of a lot of our fires to being held or under control, but there still is fire activity on the landscape,” McLoughlin said in an interview.
“I would suggest, while we are maintaining this hot, dry, precipitation-free period, fire season is by no means over yet.”
The service is citing a below-average season for area burned, and while lightning-caused fires reached about twice the average in August, low winds help crews to fight the fires, McLoughlin said.
“Strong winds are basically the accelerator on a fire in terms of its rate of spread and how far it can grow,” he explained.
