Rainy weather not enough to dampen wildfires in B.C.

Officials in British Columbia warn wildfires in the northeast and southwest are expected to persist despite rain and cooler temperatures this week.

About 400 homes are under evacuation orders due to wildfires in B.C., while 700 more are under an evacuation alert. 

Emergency Management Minister Kelly Greene said in an update on the wildfire situation on Wednesday, the majority of those evacuations are in the Nanaimo area, where the Wesley Ridge wildfire remains out of control. 

She said no homes or structures have been damaged by the blaze. 

Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said over 200 personnel are helping battle the wildfire on “steep and challenging terrain.” 

The Wesley Ridge wildfire was discovered on July 31, and has since grown to 5.38 square kilometres. 

Parmar said the province has seen an uptick in wildfires over the past week, as summer storms led to nearly 70,000 lightning strikes across the province.

“This past week has been a reminder of how much our wildfire situation can change,” said Parmar.

He said there have been just over 850 wildfire starts in total this year, compared to over 1000 at this time last year. 

Campfires remain banned along much of the B.C. coast with the B.C. Conservation Service confirming on Tuesday it has issued close $30,000 worth in fines for illegal campfires over the B.C. Day long weekend. 

“That’s unacceptable,” said Parmar. “This kind of activity puts people and livelihoods at risk.”

Cliff Chapman, director of operations for the B.C. Wildfire Service, said most of the province has got significantly drier over the past 7 days, and that’s increasing the risk of fire.  

He said the province has been fortunate this wildfire season compared to previous years of intense fire activity, like 2023, because there hasn’t been a prolonged heat wave or heat dome. 

While some areas are seeing rainy conditions this week, Chapman said it’s not enough to offset the ongoing drought conditions. 

He added that firefighters in the northeast corner of the province, who have borne the brunt of wildfires this year, are not getting relief from any precipitation this week. 

There were 118 active wildfires in B.C. as of Wednesday afternoon, including 28 classified as out-of-control.

Sixteen of those out-of-control fires are in the Prince George Fire Centre region.