Wildfire crews are bracing for a “very challenging” next 72 hours across British Columbia, with hot and dry conditions along with lightning and wind in the forecast.
During a press conference out of Kamloops Thursday morning, BC Wildfire Service director of wildfire operations Cliff Chapman said conditions across much of the province have been dry and hot for several weeks now, and the wildfire situation may continue to deteriorate over the coming days.
“I'll be really clear: I do believe we are on the precipice of a very challenging 72 hours,” Chapman said.
“We saw lightning come through yesterday, that's now being replaced by 30-plus degree weather over the course of next 24 hours and we anticipate more lightning in the northern half of the province today, significant lightning, as well as potentially lightning across British Columbia tomorrow.”
He noted the lightning that's forecast in the southern half of the province over the coming 72 hours is not expected to come with much rain, if any at all, and strong winds are also expected.
“Obviously lightning is our primary source of new fires right now, and so as that lightning hits and with the conditions and the dryness ... I do believe we will have a challenging fire situation in B.C. as we witnessed last night on the Shetland Creek fire,” he said.
With the hot and dry conditions, and no reprieve in sight, fire crews are focused on hitting new fire starts as quickly as possible.
“Fires will be very aggressive right from ignition,” Chapman said. “All of our focus is trying to be aggressive in our initial attack and to ensure we have the resources attacking these fires as quickly as we can.”
While 800 BCWS firefighters are currently deployed across B.C., working on the more than 170 wildfires currently burning, the province has requested additional resources. Specialists from Australia and New Zealand have recently arrived in B.C., and two airtankers from Yukon and Alaska will be deployed for the first time on Thursday.
But Chapman noted there is scarcity worldwide when it comes to wildland firefighters.
“There is not a lot of resource availability across the globe,” he said. “We need to be proactive in what we're looking for to make sure we have the resources arriving on time.”
Chapman said they have a request in with the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre for additional ground crews, but “there has been no answer to that request at this point.”
The forecast across most of B.C. is calling for persistent hot and dry conditions for at least the next week.
“We still are forecasting another seven days of above average temperatures; we're going to see temperatures in the mid-30s, even cresting into 40 degrees in the Southern Interior over the next few days. And that's going to also have wind associated with it on Friday this week and Sunday,” Chapman said.
“For all British Columbians, my message is: be diligent.”
