Rain gives reprieve in B.C. wildfire fight, but challenging days ahead, wildfire service says

CBC

6 hours ago

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Light rain and higher humidity have briefly tempered wildfire activity in British Columbia, with some residents allowed to return to evacuated homes on Vancouver Island and in the Fraser Canyon.
But hotter temperatures in the forecast appear poised to create new challenges.
Cliff Chapman, director of wildfire operations with the B.C. Wildfire Service, said a drying trend starting this weekend is expected to cause the southern half of the province to "heat up again," raising the wildfire risk.
"There is no place in B.C. this year, and frankly, probably any year, that is going to be safe from the threat of wildfires," Chapman told a news conference on Wednesday.
"In terms of the rest of August and even into September, I wouldn't say there's anywhere in B.C. that I would say there's no hazard left there."
Chapman said the northeast corner of the province, which has dealt with the brunt of B.C.'s wildfire season for several years, has missed out on rain that's been seen elsewhere and continues to be an area of concern.
He said areas that have seen some rain have not seen enough.
"What it does is it resets our conditions, but only at a very micro scale," he said, explaining that the reprieve gives crews a chance to attack fires at their edge.
"It gives us the ability to do that, but it doesn't knock down the hazard for the whole province for the rest of the fire season."
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British Columbia government and wildfire officials say 120 wildfires remain active in the province as of Wednesday, but light rain and higher humidity are helping crews fight the blazes.
Chapman said recent fire seasons in B.C. have not seen the kind of large "season-ending rain event" that would snuff out the last of the blazes, and crews have been left to rely on seasonal shifts from summer to fall and fall to winter.
At a Tuesday news conference on the Wesley Ridge wildfire, fire information officer Madison Dahl noted conditions are still extremely dry.
"While we are expecting rain, we are in a significant drought," Dahl said.
The Wesley Ridge fire had grown to 571 hectares by Thursday. The BCWS described fire activity as "minimal" overnight and limited to steep backcountry terrain in its latest online update.
Almost 110 wildfires are burning across the province. Hot and dry weather combined with thousands of lightning strikes last week to spark dozens of new blazes.
Over the long weekend, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service handed out almost $30,000 in fines to people violating campfire bans.
But there have also been some gains, with more than 160 fires declared out in the past week.
On Wednesday, residents of more than 100 properties near Cameron Lake on Vancouver Island were allowed to return home after an evacuation order was partially downgraded to an alert, while a separate evacuation order and some alerts near Lytton were also lifted.
The evacuation order issued by the Lytton First Nation due to the Cantilever Bar wildfire was rescinded after firefighters reclassified the blaze as being held on Tuesday.
Evacuation alerts issued by the Lytton First Nation, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District and the Siska First Nation were also lifted, while B.C.'s emergency information agency still showed an active evacuation alert issued by the Skuppah Indian Band. That community could not be reached for an update.
The vast majority of the province's evacuation orders and alerts are related to the out-of-control Wesley Ridge fire on the north shore of Cameron Lake, about 60 kilometres from Nanaimo.
The Regional District of Nanaimo partially lifted about a third of its evacuation orders late Wednesday.
"Please know our first priority is getting residents home as soon as it is safe to do so. We understand that it is disappointing that not all evacuees are able to return home at this time," the district said in a statement.
Firefighters have said the cooler weather was helping their efforts.
Fire information officer Madison Dahl said there was "very little" fire activity near residences in the area of Wesley Ridge and the West Cameron Lake, as night-vision helicopters monitored the fire throughout the evening.
Dahl said about 1.4 millimetres of rain fell on the fire on Tuesday, and ground crews have been taking advantage of cooler conditions to battle the blaze.
"They've made excellent progress in suppressing fire activity in residential areas," said Dahl, adding that 185 firefighters have been working to contain the flames.
She said the fire is suspected to be human-caused, which is how any wildfire not sparked by lightning is categorized. The cause of the fire is now under investigation.
Environment Canada's forecast for the region predicts daytime highs of 29 C on Saturday and 33 C on Sunday.
Emergency Management Minister Kelly Greene encouraged people to stay alert and prepared during the fire season, saying that includes having a household emergency plan.