Wildfires Update: No Breaks From the Weather

BC fire officials are not expecting to get any breaks from the weather in the foreseeable future.

“We are not seeing any rain in the forecast for now, certainly not for the next 7 to 10 days, across the  southern half of the province,” Kevin Skrepnek, chief information officer for the BC Wildfire Service, told the daily fire update.

Skrepnek says a strong ridge of high pressure will start to build Monday, creating ‘incredibly hot and dry conditions,” with temperatures to reach the high 30’s in parts of the southern Interior.

Skrepnek says there are 148 fires burning in BC today, with nine new fires on Friday.

One of the current fires, the Martin Mountain fire near Monte Lake, west of Vernon, is still listed as “active and out of control,” but it’s now 70 percent contained and remaining at 150 hectares.

“This fire has been relatively calm, and for the most part, it’s a ground fire,” says Skrepnek.

The Elephant Hill fire north of Cache Creek has grown to 70,387 hectares with 30% containment.

“We’re seeing continued aggressive fire behaviour, particularly on the northern end of the fire, and some areas of the east. We’re continuing to hold controlled burns and reinforcing some of the fire guards we’ve got in place,” says Skrepnek.

About 4,700 personnel are working on fires in the province, including 1,100 from out of province.

There have been 810 fires this season, with 426,000 hectares burned and $166 million spent fighting them.

Emergency Management BC says there are currently about 3,700 fire evacuees, with over 41,000 people on evacuation alert.

There are 18 evacuation orders in place, and 47 evacuation alerts.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in BC for a visit, and he makes a stop in Revelstoke Saturday.

He is also expected to tour the fire areas in the BC Interior.