After 19,000 lightning strikes in British Columbia yesterday, 115 new fires started in the province, according to Fire Information Officer Kevin Skrepnek.
“None of the fire in the province right now are posing any threat to communities [or] evacuation orders.”
They’re working on prioritizing the fires and are expecting similar activity today in terms of lightning, he says, but there’s a better chance that there will be some rain with that.
“[We’re] definitely expecting more fires to be starting today.”
The vast majority of those new fires, while fairly small, are still out of control, he says. Some have changed to being held.
“It’s fairly dry and that is definitely the x-factor in terms of that rain. We’re gonna see thunderstorms but it’s not going to be rain across the board,” says Skrepnek. “Definitely most of the fire centre right now we’re looking at a moderate to high fire danger rating.”
In the longer term, the next few days are expected to be fairly storm followed by warmer weather and another unsettled system on Monday, he says.
RELATED: June 20: 50 new fires sparked in B.C. after lightning strikes across province
Fire starts by fire centre:
Coastal Fire Centre: nine new fires.
Northwest Fire Centre: 30 new fires
Prince George Fire Centre: 41 new fires
Kamloops Fire Centre: 12 new fires
Southeast Fire Centre: one new fire
Cariboo Fire Centre: 22 new fires
