Warm temperatures pose new threat for B.C. wildfires, floods

High temperatures in the forecast for the B.C. Interior later this week may pose a new wave of wildfire and flooding threats to the province.

The BC Wildfire Service says rain and cooler temperatures in the next few days will help mitigate two out-of-control blazes in the province’s northeast.

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But wildfire operations director Cliff Chapman says the precipitation isn’t enough to knock down the Red Creek and Boundary Lake fires, about 1,300 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

At last count, the Boundary Lake fire was an estimated 59,000 hectares, and the fire at Red Creek sits at 28,000 hectares.

Interior flooding stabilizes ahead of high temperatures

Meanwhile, flooding in the Interior has subsided into a “period of stabilization” for this week, before new snowmelt is expected to push forth another round of heightened alerts by next weekend.

B.C. Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma says much of the province’s southern Interior saw less rain than forecast on Sunday, resulting in communities like Grand Forks downgrading its flood warnings to advisories.

But the B.C. River Forecast Centre says temperatures are expected to surpass 30 degrees in some communities by next Sunday, which may melt snow in higher elevations and trigger new flood warnings.

Meanwhile, Cache Creek, 350 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, remains under flood warnings despite falling water levels.