Bracing for more lightning

Photo: BC Wildfire Service

Telegraph Creek fire

A cooling trend is forecast for B.C., but provincial firefighting officials say the change in the weather is likely to be accompanied by intense lightning capable of igniting more forest fires.

Kevin Skrepnek, B.C.'s chief fire information officer, said Wednesday the heat should let up across the province by Friday, but with that comes forecasts of thunderstorms, lightning strikes and only small amounts of rain.

He said the amount of rain in the most recent forecast is between three and five millimetres, which is not enough to ease the extreme fire conditions across B.C.

"The real day we are focusing on right now is Friday," he said from Kamloops. "We do expect a pretty dramatic shift in the weather."

Skrepnek said the forecast predicts the break down of the high pressure ridge that has brought record high temperatures to much of the province.

"Unfortunately, with the system coming through we are expecting a cold front that is going to bring about increased winds and that is more than likely going to bring some thunderstorm activity with it," he said. "We are bracing for it to be a challenging day."

There are currently 462 fires burning in B.C., a much higher number than the 130 fires reported on the same date one year ago, said Skrepnek.

He said so far this year, since April 1, there have been 1,502 fires, burning about 101,000 hectares and costing $131 million to fight. B.C. spent about $650 million fighting forest fires in 2017.

Forests Minister Doug Donaldson said he took an aerial tour Wednesday of the fire zone in Central B.C., where he saw thick plumes of smoke, trees in flames and recent fire damage to area forests. He said he was accompanied by Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth.

"This year the fire season seemed to start later, but it's more widespread than last year with wildfires of note in all areas of the province," said Donaldson, in a telephone conference call from a government forest office at Burns Lake.