Vancouver — Southern British Columbia, high temperatures, low humidity, and increased winds make wildfire conditions difficult, said the state’s Deputy Forest Minister.
Rick Manwaring said it wasn’t raining, temperatures were rising, and gusts were expected in some parts of southern British Columbia.
“As the heat increases, the relative humidity levels decrease and the activity of these fires increases,” he said at a press conference on Thursday.
Humidity is one of the biggest contributors to wildfire behavior, and at this time of the year, crew members are looking for what they call “recovery,” Manwaring said.
“So, when the sun sets in the evening and at night, relative humidity begins to rise to land, reducing wildfire activity,” he said.
He said firefighters usually take advantage of the low temperatures at night to place guards and take advantage of the reduced behavior of the flames. But this year, temperatures and humidity were rarely low, especially in the central and southern parts of the state.
“We see continuous fire behavior all night, which really limits our ability to make progress in the evening periods other than the combustion cycle.”
Erica Berg, British Columbia’s wildfire intelligence officer, said temperatures are expected to drop by Sunday, but winds are also expected along with the risk of dry thunderstorms.
She said the service is preparing for further activity, along with the possibility of new fires in some of the approximately 270 wildfires currently burning.
Thirty fires have been ranked as threatening or highly prominent, including a 580 square kilometer wildfire on Lake Whiterock between Kamloops and Vernon.
Aggressive growth has already destroyed homes and businesses on Lake Montelake, Westwald, and Lake Bouro, and the flames are now a crew that works to protect the assets on the flaming side closest to the northwestern shore of Lake Okanagan. I am challenging the members.
An evacuation order was issued to the Logan Lake area on Thursday, instructing about 2,000 residents to leave the area shortly after the Tremont Creek wildfire. Logan Lake is about 300 kilometers northeast of Vancouver.
BC has more than 50 evacuation orders and more than 100 evacuation warnings are posted. This means that residents need to be prepared to leave with little notice.
The state says more than 6,500 square kilometers have been burned since the start of the wildfire season on April 1.
Manwaring said fires in the Prince George and Cariboo areas are beginning to gain some control, but some of the larger flames may take longer to contain.
“But to be honest, some of these large-scale fires that broke out inside the South Central will fight them until it snows.”
Hina Alam