Weekend rain dampening B.C. wildfire activity as active blazes numbers drop

VANCOUVER — Rain and cool weather in southern British Columbia is dousing wildfire activity in the province, but firefighters are urging vigilance despite the drop in the number of active blazes.

The BC Wildfire Service says there are now about 320 active wildfires in the province, continuing a decreasing trend this week as only seven blazes have been started in the last 24 hours while 26 were declared out.

The wildfire service says more than 100 wildfires have been declared out in the last week, and firefighters are “working to take advantage of lower fire behaviour and rates of spread.”

The 2-square-kilometre Corya Creek wildfire in northwestern B.C. about 170 kilometres northeast of Terrace, is the province’s only fire-of-note.

But in its latest update, the BC Wildfire Service warns the cool weather is expected to bring higher winds, which may increase the danger of falling trees to crews working on wildfire sites.

the wildfire service had to relocate personnel from the South Rockies Incident Management Team from a camp near Invermere late Friday due to a “wind event,” although no one was injured.

“Staff were safely moved to a warm and dry location at the Columbia Valley Centre,” the service said in a Facebook post.

“The wind event has not raised issues or concerns for the fires in question… Firefighting operations will not be impacted by the relocation of staff.”

Environment Canada says rain is in the forecast for at least part of the weekend across southern B.C. from Vancouver through Kamloops and the Okanagan to Revelstoke and Cranbrook.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 24, 2024.

The Canadian Press