B.C. wildfire crews endure heat wave with little relief expected

Crews have managed to bring a wildfire which started near the Okanagan Connector close to Merritt Monday night under control.

However, as a heat wave continues across much of southern B.C., the BC Wildfire Service is urging caution, saying there is little reprieve expected in the short term when it comes to the weather.

“As we move into the week, we’re sort of expecting this current heat wave to continue to build. Today is probably the hottest day of the heat wave. Yesterday, on Monday, we actually broke 14 temperature records across the province, hit up to 40 degrees on Vancouver Island and in the southern Interior, so really curing fuels and seeing elevated fire behaviour throughout the province,” fire information officer Sarah Budd explained Tuesday.

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Budd says higher temperatures coupled with wind have led to elevated fire behaviour, in multiple ways. They have also put more pressure on crews, who are working to “stay hydrated, stay healthy, and stay safe,” Budd adds.

Budd says while a cooler front is coming later in the week, that could bring its own challenges.

“The way that that’s going to be delivered to us is through a dry cold front that’s going to come down towards us from the Alaska Panhandle. That’s going to crash into sort of the current upper ridge that we’ve got going on in the province right now, which could lead to some dry lightning, it’s going to increase winds, so we expect sort of later in this week to see really elevated fire behaviour and we do recommend folks exercise due caution, particularly if you’re recreating in the backcountry,” she explained.

Over the last week, the service says there have been more than 70 new fires sparked in B.C., with 16 of those considered out of control. As of Tuesday at noon, there were 374 wildfires burning in B.C.