Rain leads to some relief as B.C. wildfire risk set to increase again

B.C. is seeing drought levels it never experienced before, according to the province’s minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness. This comes as temperatures are expected to rise this weekend. Kier Junos has the story.

By The Canadian Press and Hana Mae Nassar

Posted August 12, 2023 9:53 am.

Last Updated August 12, 2023 10:12 am.

BC Wildfire Service crews are still busy dealing with hundreds of blazes across the province, but recent rain means there have been pockets of relief in some regions.

An evacuation order related to the Horsethief Creek fire in the East Kootenays in southeast B.C. was downgraded to an alert on Friday, while a total campfire ban was rescinded in the Prince George and Northwest fire centres.

But fires larger than 50 centimetres across remain prohibited, and provincial emergency officials warn of the return of increased fire risks on Sunday as a protracted heat wave is expected to last most of next week.

Recently released data show that as of Aug. 10, there have been 5,595 wildfires across Canada, releasing the equivalent of more than one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

On Friday, the director general of the Northern Forestry Centre at Natural Resources Canada explained over 13 million hectares of land have been scorched so far this year. That is six times the average land burned, as the 10-year average at this time of year is 4,600 fires with 2 million hectares of land burned.

“This is largely due to drought conditions across the country. … As discussed at the briefing I gave on July 6, this kind of simultaneous fire activity in all regions of the country is virtually unheard of, and is usually more regional, with one side of the country seeing more fire activity than the other over the course of the season. But, that is not what we’ve experienced this season,” NRCan Director General Michael Norton explained.

Meanwhile, the heat wave that’s set to engulf much of the province beginning Sunday won’t bring temperatures quite as high as those seen during the 2021 heat dome. However, the increase in temperature has prompted warnings from officials about safety.

As of Thursday afternoon, 28 out of B.C.’s 34 water basins were under a level 4 or 5 drought level on the five-level scale, according to the province’s drought map.

-With files from Charlie Carey