wildfire service warns of 'explosive' wildfire surge across southern b.c.
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the b.c. wildfire service is bracing for a surge of new wildfires this week as a prolonged dry spell, severe drought conditions and dry lightning increase the risk of new fires.
cliff chapman, director of wildfire operations, said the coming days will be challenging, particularly in the cariboo, southeast and kamloops fire centres, which span south of williams lake to the u.s. border and west from the fraser canyon to the alberta border.
“we continue to see significant drought conditions in those areas and we are now entering a drying trend for the next couple days when we’ll see those low- to mid-30 temperatures, very low relative humidity and no rain,” chapman said during a news conference on tuesday.
forecasters expect dry lightning to return beginning late thursday and continuing through friday and saturday, exacerbating already “explosive” conditions.
“the conditions are such we’ve never seen fuel dryness the way we are seeing it right now,” added chapman. “when you put in 85 to 100 km/h winds on top of that it is an explosive and extremely dangerous situation b.c. and we saw that play out on the bradley creek fire.”
more than 1,000 wildland firefighters are battling about 120 active wildfires across the province.
crews are being reinforced by more than 600 firefighters arriving from alberta, yukon and other parts of canada and the world. about 100 wildfire personnel from mexico arrived in vancouver on monday, while additional crews from australia are expected to arrive later this week.
the timing of the reinforcements is critical, said chapman, “because our own people have been going now for two to three weeks in a row, working these tremendously long hours in gruelling conditions, and they need to take a few days.”
the mexican contingent will be sent to support firefighting efforts in the big bar complex, where the largest fire, the pear lake fire near clinton, has consumed an area of about 1,150-square-kilometres.
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roughly 8,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes, including residents near vernon, where the bradley creek wildfire remains out of control.
dan wilson, chief of the okanagan indian band, said about 230 homes have been destroyed by the blaze, which started late friday and was fanned by high winds on saturday.
across b.c., about 7,300 properties are under evacuation order, while another 3,000 properties — affecting more than 7,100 people — are under evacuation alert.
“the wildfire activity we have seen over the past week continues to be dynamic,” said kelly greene, minister of emergency management and climate readiness. she said evacuation orders and alerts have been changing hourly, underscoring the importance of being prepared to leave on short notice.
greene said a provincial state of emergency has not been declared because the additional emergency powers it provides, such as restricting travel and rationing supplies, are not currently needed.
meanwhile, an air quality warning has been escalated for the eastern fraser valley, including chilliwack, agassiz and hope, due to smoke from wildfires near boston bar and in the southern b.c. interior.
the warning level ramped up to orange from yellow in the afternoon, indicating a “very high health risk” from elevated levels of fine particulate matter in the air.
fine particulate matter are small particles, typically caused by wildfire smoke, vehicles and burning material, that affect the lungs and heart.
conditions may persist until there is a change in weather, said the advisory update on tuesday. “smoke levels can change quickly with weather and fire behaviour.”
no warning is in place for metro vancouver despite hazy conditions in parts of the region on tuesday. metro vancouver’s air quality is currently considered low risk while the central fraser valley, which includes mission and abbotsford, saw its rating fluctuate between low and medium risk.
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authorities advised people in the area to limit time outdoors, stay indoors in places with air conditioning, and use portable hepa air cleaners to improve indoor air quality.
people with heart and lung and other chronic conditions, pregnant women, infants, children, seniors and outdoor workers are more vulnerable. anyone experiencing symptoms like wheezing, chest pain, trouble breathing or a severe cough should seek medical help.
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