Lightning strikes spark hundreds of wildfires across B.C. ahead of cooler weather

The BC Wildfire Service says lightning strikes have caused nearly 200 fires to spark in the last week across the province.

As of Monday morning, about 400 fires are burning, and the service says it’s expecting winds to pick up in the next few days which could cause more fire activity.

About 40 per cent of fires burning are classified as “out of control,” with six considered wildfires of note.

The new starts come as the Lower Mainland and much of southern B.C. is set to see some cooler weather this week.

BCWS Provincial Information Officer Sarah Budd says mid-August is typically the busiest time for the service, and this year is proving no different. 

“In the last 24 hours, we have had 34 new starts. But to put that in context, we’ve also put 36 out in the last 24 hours. So we’re kind of in a bit of a stable place,” Budd said Monday morning.

She says there hasn’t been a day without lightning strikes since mid-July, but adds the lower temperatures might bring some relief.

“One silver lining of the current conditions is that we are seeing a bit of a pattern break. And we’re seeing some more precipitation come with that lightning today and in the next couple of days, and that is going to help to bring our temperatures down and some of the humidity out there in our fuels up, which should help to see some of the fire activity on the land base stabilize.”

Another benefit of cooler temperatures, Budd says, is the ease with which firefighters can tackle a fire in its early stages. Before a fire reaches 10 hectares in size, she says a crew as small as four people can effectively knock it down.

“We’re seeing huge success for our initial attack crews, and those are our four-person crews that go out and respond really quickly to a fire that’s kind of in their immediate vicinity,” said Budd.

“And because of the conditions on the ground this summer, we are seeing a lot more of that.”

1130 NewsRadio meteorologist Carl Lam says the next few days are going to be below the seasonal daily average.

Lam explains only one day this week will reach the seasonal daily average of 22 degrees.

“It is going to feel very different this week across Metro Vancouver because it is going to be noticeably cooler,” he said Monday.

Lam says with the new fires, there’s wildfire smoke up in the atmosphere too.

“But with all the cloud coverage, it’s going to be hard to tell it’s there because the clouds are already going to make it look great enough out there,” Lam explained.

“But as we go into Tuesday and Wednesday, it still is an issue as it just kind of hangs around, so we’ll be keeping an eye on that.”

Listen live to 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver weather updates every 10 minutes after traffic on the ones. You can also follow Meteorologist Michael Kuss on X and subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.