Forests Minister Bruce Ralston says it is “clear climate change is arriving faster than predicted” as British Columbia faces storms, wind, lightning and drought as crews battle hundreds of wildfires.
He says thousands of lightning strikes brought by recent summer storms led to the surging number of wildfires, although some relief is expected in the north part of the province where rain and cooler temperatures are forecast.
The BC Wildfire Service says in its report on Wednesday that much of the province is returning to more seasonable temperatures with the exception of the southeast where hot and dry conditions persist, but it notes that Thursday will bring the “coolest temperatures in over a month” across B.C.
There are more than 430 fires burning in the province and 80 per cent of them were started by a series of lightning storms that swept across the province in the last few weeks.
Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma says there are about 550 people under evacuation order and another 5,000 under evacuation alert as of Wednesday.
She says those numbers are currently “manageable” for the province and while that could change very quickly, it is seeing “nowhere near” the number of evacuations it did in 2023.
“However, for those individuals who are evacuated, the impacts are equally as harrowing when you are away from your home and you do not know whether your home and all of your prized possessions and your memories have survived,” she told a news conference Wednesday.
B.C. also saw an influx of travellers from Jasper, Alta., after a fire forced park visitors and 4,700 residents to escape from the town with little notice on Monday.
Ma noted that the only safe route for 25,000 evacuees was to travel along Highway 16 into B.C.
“Alberta has directed evacuees to three emergency reception centers, one in Grand Prairie, one in Calgary, and another in Edmonton,” she said, noting B.C. has worked closely with Alberta to assist them in their evacuation efforts.
In B.C., she noted the number of people under evacuation alert dropped by about 2,000 since Tuesday after the alert covering Williams Lake was lifted. That change came after crews were able to contain the River Valley Wildfire that crept into the city on Sunday. That blaze is currently “being held.”
There are currently four wildfires of note in B.C. including the “aggressive” Shetland Creek blaze that has already destroyed at least six homes.
Jeff Walsh, an incident commander with the BC Wildfire Service, says crews were using heavy equipment on the mountain slopes above Spences Bridge to prevent fire from burning downslope toward the southern Interior community.
The homes lost were in the Venables Valley, near Spences Bridge. Colton Davies with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District says they were among 20 buildings destroyed by the nearly 200-square-kilometre Shetland Creek fire.
Ma said during the news conference that the province is focused on the wildfire fight and returning people safely to their communities. Until then, she said, the province won’t be able to assess the damage, but regional districts may release their own information.
Several communities are in the path of wildfires in B.C. as crews fight the most threatening active blazes. Sixty per cent of the current wildfires remain out of control.
Walsh says in a video update that hot and dry conditions coupled with gusty winds have fuelled erratic and aggressive fire behaviour at the Shetland Creek blaze, driving its spread to the north.
The wildfire service says people using bodies of water near out-of-control fires, such as Shawnigan Lake adjacent to the Old Man Lake wildfire on Vancouver Island, have been told to “keep well away” from aircraft either skimming water or operating in the area.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2024.
