Fire activity this year is several weeks earlier than last spring, prompted by high temperatures and winds that have since abated.
Local initial attack crews were busy last week after four wildfires were discovered south of Burns Lake on Monday, April 18.
The biggest fire was approximately 44 km southeast of Burns Lake, near Dayeezcha Mountain. On Monday, April 25, this fire was still active and had burned over 129 hectares. However, the majority of fire growth took place on April 18 due to strong winds in the area.
Sixteen B.C. Wildfire Service personnel were assigned to this fire.
Olivia Pojar, Fire Information Officer with the Northwest Fire Centre, said crews have been making progress on the Dayeezcha Mountain fire, and that by the end of last week crews were seeing minimal fire behaviour due to calmer weather.
The Dayeezcha Mountain fire was one of seven wildfires discovered in the Northwest Fire Centre last week. As of Friday, April 22, three of those fires were in “patrol” status and three had been declared out.
According to the Northwest Fire Centre, all fires south of Burns Lake were human caused.
Although B.C. is seeing an early start to the fire season, forests minister Steve Thomson said this doesn’t mean that B.C. will have a busy fire season.
“This is an early start; it doesn’t necessarily indicate what the long-term outlook for the fire season will be,” said Thomson.
Chief fire information officer Kevin Skrepnek said the main forest fire season isn’t until July and August, and snowpacks and long-range forecasts for rainfall are not reliable indicators of severity.
“It’s not uncommon to have an early spring grass fire season in B.C., but certainly not the level of activity that we’re seeing in the Peace region and elsewhere,” Skrepnek said.
The B.C. Wildfire Service recorded 49 fire starts across the province on April 18 alone. There were evacuation orders or alerts in four locations around Fort St. John.
The province added $10 million to this year’s budget for wildfire protection and fuel management projects. In addition, Thomson said the province has 1400 staff ready to work on wildfires this season, with another 1600 contract staff available and aircraft and other equipment standing by.
The Northwest Fire Centre said the numerous reports they received from the public regarding fires south of Burns Lake last week allowed crews to respond quickly to the fires.
To report a wildfire, abandoned campfire or burning violation, call 1 800 663-5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cellphone.
On Monday, April 25, there were no fire bans in the Northwest Fire Centre.
– With files from Tom Fletcher
