Last Thursday evening’s spectacular lightning show, felt throughout the Cariboo Fire Centre, resulted in 29 lightning-caused wildfires overnight throughout the region.
“They are all just spot fires, the largest one is 0.2 hectares so they’re all pretty small,” CFC fire information officer Greig Bethel told the Tribune Friday morning.
While thousands of lightning strikes caused the new wildfires, most of the lightning was accompanied by precipitation that helped keep fires small in size, the biggest at 0.2 hectares, Bethel said.
On Friday Wildfire Management Branch crews, with air tankers, helicopters and other equipment were actioned to battle the new blazes.
Crews also used a patrol plane sent to monitor the far-flung areas of the Cariboo-Chilcotin for any further wildfires.
“We received numerous reports of wildfires and would like to thank the public for helping us out by reporting these,” Bethel said.
These lightning storms and the resulting wildfires serve as a reminder that continued vigilance is required in preventing person-caused fires and lets the Wildfire Management Branch focus its efforts on naturally occurring fires.
Despite the accompanying precipitation, the fire danger rating in the Cariboo Fire Centre is still high with areas of extreme, and the campfire ban and open burning prohibition remain in effect.
