Cooler temperatures and wet weather over the weekend have brought something of a reprieve for fire crews battling the province’s over 250 wildfires.
Scattered showers improved the situation in some places and allowed crews to get the upper hand, said Kevin Skrepnek, BC’s chief fire information officer, in a media briefing Sunday, July 12.
Campfire and open fire bans continue to stand throughout the province. “We need to ensure that people are not getting complacent, though,” Skrepnek said. After almost three weeks of dry hot weather, “a few days of rain is not going to [hit] the reset on that.”
The rain also brought an increase in lightning strikes. Skrepnek said that of the almost 50 new fires reported over the weekend, the majority were caused by lightning in the southeast of the province but the wet conditions kept their sizes smaller and crews were quick to respond.
Just under a third of the Puntzi Lake fire, an aggressive blaze raging in BC’s central Cariboo Region, has been contained. With strong wind and ample tinder-dry fuel, that fire almost doubled in size over the weekend. There are several reports of property destruction, including a hunting and fishing lodge. Owners of approximately 90 properties have been ordered to evacuate, while another 180 are under evacuation alert.
On the Lower Sunshine Coast, Skrepnek said the fires at the Old Sechelt Mine and Dog Mountain have been contained and crews are in a mopping up stage, but it could take some time before the fires are officially deemed as being out.
The change in weather has improved air quality for coastal residents and the ministry of environment, in collaboration with regional heath authorities, has ended all air quality advisories for the South Coast, Port Alberni and Comox Valley, said Dr. Perry Kendall, provincial health officer.
Smokey skies advisories continue in the southern Interior as well as the northeast of the province, the ministry of forests, lands and natural resource operations noted in its wildfire update.
Fire officials have reminded the public that it is still early in the fire season and 2015 has been extremely challenging. There have been 1,065 fires reported to date, burning over 279,000 hectares, costing the province more than $1.3 million to battle. That is about twice as many fires to date as last year when 462 fires had been reported and only 20,000 hectares had been burnt. This season is also looking like it will have more than the 10-year average. The period from 2004 to 2013 has an annual average of 1,847 fires.
Over 1,000 firefighters have been deployed across the province with the assistance of 700 contractor fire fighters, said Skrepnek. BC has called in about 100 personnel from outside the province, including from Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes.
He added that 52 personnel from Australia have been added to assist and the government has entered into a one-month contract with the Coulson Group to use the Martin Mars water bombing air tanker, based out of Port Alberni, to supplement the province’s air tanker fleet. The iconic Martin Mars can unload its 27,000-litre payload in a single drop.
