Category Archives: Forest Fires

It’s dry — really dry —and we haven’t even hit what’s normally the summer drought period on Vancouver Island. “We usually expect dry conditions in summer but not as early as they started this year,” says Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sekhon. “Seeing such dry conditions in June and early July is unusual for sure because it’s not usually until later July and into August that we have our driest period.” Greater Victoria and most of eastern Vancouver Island is now at drought Level 4 — that’s higher than the Okanagan — and adverse impacts on fish are now very likely here and in most of Southwestern B.C. …The tinder-dry conditions mean all of Vancouver Island is facing a high or extreme wildfire risk and we’ve already had almost double the number of fires.

A wildfire that broke out Friday night near a north Vancouver Island community is now under control. Multiple fire departments responded to the fire that broke out near the community of Woss, which also knocked out power for thousands of BC Hydro customers. A statement on the BC Hydro website said, “Logging equipment had damaged a transmission line, causing a power outage for 7,200 customers on Northern Vancouver Island, including Port Hardy, Port McNeill, Alert Bay, and Fort Rupert.” …The fire is currently under control as of Saturday morning, according to BCWS. They say fire crews will remain on the scene and they are hoping to have the fire completely out at the end of the day Saturday.

A section of the Robert Campbell Highway in Yukon has been closed due to a nearby forest fire.  According to the Yukon government’s highways and public works department, the closure stretches from kilometre 10 to kilometre 360, between Watson Lake and Ross River. Yukon’s wildfire map shows a 1,300-hectare fire burning at the Tuchitua River near the highway.  The fire is classified as out of control, and is expected to reach the highway itself at some point on Thursday near the junction of Nahanni Range Road. … A number of areas, including Teslin, Whitehorse, and Faro, also remain under an extreme level of fire risk. 

The lightning storm that rolled through the B.C. Interior on Wednesday temporarily grounded helicopters fighting the Mckay Creek wildfire north of Lillooet. The BC Wildfire Service says 15 helicopters are back in the sky today, supporting ground crews in the battle against the 24,255-hectare blaze that has forced evacuation alerts and orders in the area. Crews conducted a number of successful planned ignitions Wednesday to eliminate fuel between the fire perimeter and guards. … While Wednesday’s lightning temporarily grounded BCWS helicopters, the storm brought 5-10 mm of rain to the fire. … A total of 165 personnel are fighting the fire situated 11.5 kilometres north of Lillooet.

Crews continue to battle three ‘wildfires of note’ in the Prince George Fire Centre, as dryer than normal conditions are forecasted to persist across B.C. The largest in the Prince George Fire Centre is still the Chilako fire, west of Finger-Tatuk Provincial Park, discovered on July 1. It is burning an estimated 1,471 hectares. …Resources fighting this fire include 55 firefighters, 4 helicopters, and 26 pieces of heavy equipment. The second wildfire of note is the Cutoff Creek fire, just north of Knewstubb Lake and a 123-kilometre drive south of Fraser Lake.  Discovered on July 2, the fire has grown from a reported 886.4 hectares to 1,215 hectares. …The third wildfire of note is the Tentfire Creek wildfire, discovered July 1, near Murray Forest Service Road and southwest of Tumber Ridge, burning at approximately 715 hectares.

BC Wildfire Service is expecting heightened wildfire activity to continue well into July, due to fuel dryness conditions that came earlier in the summer than normal. A monthly seasonal outlook report released July 5 indicates the Southern Interior only received 30 per cent of normal June rainfall, as temperatures climbed steadily culminating in a historic heatwave province-wide. “Select areas within the Kamloops Fire Centre are experiencing record moisture deficits. Widespread thunderstorms recently delivered more lightning than rain with the only significant rainfall amounts being confined to the northeast corner of B.C … Delayed lightning starts from dry lightning are anticipated in the coming weeks.” Monthly forecasts for July indicate warmer and drier than normal conditions will continue. Grass and other surface fuels has been drying quickly, meaning wildfire behaviour will be “more typical of mid-July or August conditions.”

Kane Blake

Never has there been a greater sense of urgency behind a campfire ban.  But for a certain portion of the population, it just doesn’t sink in.  And that’s why Kane Blake and his Okanagan Forest Task Force have been busy finding and reporting violators.   For much of the year, the focus for the OFTF is cleaning up the garbage left behind by thoughtless individuals.  But come fire season, they’re on the hunt for people willing to put us all at risk by defying the current ban on campfires, and lately, they’re finding a bunch.  “A lot more than we should be,” said Blake. “Last week alone we found three on the weekend, and last night, this one.”  Blake is referring to a fire his group discovered just off Postill Lake Road. …Blake explained the group’s policy to avoid confrontations with violators.

B.C. government ministers say any decision about declaring a state of emergency over wildfires in the Interior will be made on the advice of emergency management officials.  The current advice is that a state of emergency is not needed, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth told reporters Tuesday, as more than 200 wildfires burn across the province following a record-breaking heat wave.  “When they tell me it’s now time to move into that provincial state of emergency, then it is time to,” he said.  Farnworth, Premier John Horgan and Forests Minister Katrine Conroy spoke with the media after meeting Tuesday with representatives of Lytton, B.C., in the neighbouring community of Lillooet, following a wildfire that destroyed Lytton and left at least two people dead.  They also flew over the devastation in Lytton, where Horgan said there is “literally nothing left.”

Air tankers are dropping a retardant line between the Canim Lake wildfire and homes in the area. BC Wildfire Service information officer Jessica Mack said the move is a “preventive measure to make sure homes stay safe right now.” A heavy-lift helicopter is also dropping water on the wildfire, which has grown to 700 hectares in size. …The Cariboo Regional District has expanded an evacuation alert in the Canim Lake and Forest Grove area, due to the 700-hectare Canim Lake fire. …“This is as a precaution due to the predicted weather forecast of erratic winds and thunderstorms,” Wagner said in a newsletter to her constituents. “Please take this time to prepare for a possible evacuation order, should it become necessary.”

Volunteer firefighting crews from the Cowichan Valley have travelled to the Interior to help battle wildfires that are ravaging B.C. in the early summer. The North Cowichan and Mill Bay fire departments have each sent a fire engine and a crew of four to 100 Mile House, where they are helping fend off the Deka Lake wildfire. The crews’ primary job will be to help protect structures from the flames. According to North Cowichan manager of fire and bylaw services Martin Drakeley, his department got the call from the BC Wildfire Service on Friday night… The Mill Bay Fire Department got the call around the same time, and in just over 12 hours, four members of the department were on board Engine 75 and headed to the Interior. Cedar has also sent an engine and crew.

Prince George Fire Centre is currently fighting three wildfires of note, as the province is dealing with nearly two hundred active wildfires. The largest in the Prince George Fire Centre is the Chilako fire, discovered on July 1. It is burning at an estimated 1,000 hectares and was caused by lightning. BC Wildfire Service says crews are engaged in indirect suppression efforts because of the changing fire behaviour. There are 55 firefighters, 4 helicopters, and 26 pieces of heavy equipment. The second-largest is the Tentfire Creek fire near Murray Forest Service Road burning at approximately 715 hectares. It was also caused by lightning and discovered on July 1. …The Canadian government is moving to stage more than 350 soldiers and tactical airlift capabilities out of Edmonton to support firefighters in B.C. A forward operating base will house two Chinook medium-lift helicopters, one Hercules transport aircraft, and three Griffin utility helicopters already at a Canadian Forces base in the Alberta capital.

VANCOUVER – Crews battling wildfires in B.C.’s southern Interior are getting a little help from the weather Tuesday. There are currently close to 200 fires burning across the province, with dry, hot, and windy conditions the major concern over the past few days. However, Meteorologist Michael Kuss says there’s a shift in the wind direction, and lighter gusts in the forecast. …When it comes to precipitation, Michael says there’s more expected in the days to come. “A small trough of low pressure starts moving in late day today, but it’s more of a Wednesday event,” he says. …“It looks like we will see some active weather returning,” he explains. “It looks like into Wednesday we’ll see showers, possible thunderstorms, with lightning into the afternoon.”

VANCOUVER—A regional Indigenous leader in British Columbia has accused the province of failing to support First Nations leaders in the critical hours after a massive wildfire tore through the village of Lytton and its surrounding areas.  Matt Pasco, chair of the regional Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council, whose member communities include the Lytton First Nation, said Friday that Lytton First Nation members who occupy a number of reserves around the village of Lytton had suffered “significant” property loss due to the fire, adding that hundreds of members had been evacuated from the region.  He expressed frustration with a lack of support and communication from the province’s lead emergency co-ordinating agency, Emergency Management B.C., in the early goings of the evacuation.  “In the first 14 hours, we were alone,” he told the Star.  

It was a week that saw cataclysm stacked on top of tragedy — a deadly heat wave lit up the B.C. wildfire map, at least one burning Lytton to the ground just days after the town smashed Canada’s all-time heat record. …Emergency Management BC says there are currently 1,362 homes under evacuation order and 950 under alert. However, it’s still not clear how many people are missing after the residents of Lytton fled in all directions. The RCMP is waiting for the Red Cross to register evacuees before it launches any missing persons investigations. …By Friday afternoon, roughly 12,000 lightning strikes the day before had added to 136 active fires in “a significant spread” across the province, according to Cliff Chapman, director of provincial operations for the BC Wildfire Service. Nine of those are classified as “wildfires of note” due to being highly visible or potentially posing a threat to public safety. 

Based on the recommendation from BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) regarding the 20-hectare Merry Creek wildfire (N51165), the Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) is rescinding the Evacuation Order for 31 properties and the Evacuation Alert for one property in Electoral Area J as of 12:30 pm today. The rescind order means residents can now return to their properties. The State of Local Emergency has also been cancelled.  “Crews have done an incredible job in containing this wildfire and minimizing damage to property,” said Nora Hannon, EOC Director and RDCK Regional Fire Chief. “With the hot weather continuing and only the beginning of wildfire season, this is a reminder to residents the importance of being careful and alert for any possible fire dangers when being outdoors.”

Two aggressive wildfires burning north of Big White are estimated to be burning a combined area of about 300 hectares, although smoke and the fires’ behaviour is making it difficult to accurately estimate size. Earlier Wednesday, the BC Wildfire Service said three small fires were burning in the Graystokes area north of Big White, but the Long Loch wildfire and the Derrickson Lake wildfire have grown significantly … Due to the fires’ aggressive behaviour, the BC Wildfire Service has pulled back its firefighters from the area to protect them. Fire information officer Madison Smith says the fire is exhibiting Rank 4 an 5 behaviour, which includes “extremely vigorous” surface spread or crowning in trees. … While smoke from the fires is highly visible from Kelowna, Vernon, Big White and other surrounding areas, the BC Wildfire Service says no structures or properties are currently threatened. 

An interface wildfire near Castlegar has grown to seven hectares and is zero per cent contained, according to BC Wildfire Service, but the City of Castlegar Emergency Operations Centre says the blaze within city limits is contained. Twenty-five firefighters, two airtankers and two helicopters are attacking the fire. …The City of Castlegar Emergency Operations Centre is reporting that, as of 3:30 p.m., the fire within City limits has been contained but is still burning North West of Hiwy 3 near the Merry Creek Forest Services Road. All those evacuated from Castleview Care Centre have been transported to the Castlegar and District Recreation Centre.