Currently, there are 163 wildfires burning across the province, including a whopping 28 new ones that started up Saturday.

BC Wildfire Service confirms the province has surpassed the 1,000-fire mark. Since April 1st, there have been 1,003 reported fires, and suppression efforts have cost more than $285.2 million.

Looking at the forecast, Fire Information Officer Ryan Turcotte says Prince George and the Cariboo can expect scattered showers this week, but these will bring unstable conditions.

“We will see cooler temperatures to an extent, but we’re also entering a pattern of gustier winds and more lightning risks, so it’s a bit of a double-edged sword.”

There are over 4,016 people working on the BC blazes, 682 of whom are from out of province and 1,609 are contractors. There are 233 aircraft working as well.

Turcotte estimates the Elephant Hill wildfire is now 149,914 hectares. Significant winds and heavy smoke limited the use of air resources on this fire Saturday, which spread north to Green Lake and east to Deadman Valley.

The Hanceville / Riske Creek wildfire is currently 193,894 hectares. High winds led to extremely aggressive fire growth Saturday.