Dry conditions prompt wildfire, drought concerns in B.C.
There is little relief for British Columbia's wildfire fight in the immediate forecast.
In the Coastal Fire Centre, the Newcastle Creek fire has grown to 208 hectares Friday and remains out of control.
It is more than five kilometres away from the Village of Sayward, which has not ordered any evacuations at this time.
But Jamie Pond didn’t want to take any chances. She and her husband took their boat to Echo Bay, where they have a home for work.
“For us, it's really concerning because we could lose everything we have there,” Pond told CTV News. “If there's a shift in the direction of winds, you know, five kilometres is not very far and it could shoot over that little mountain range so easily.”
There are no concerns of wind gusts at the moment, just more dry weather.
“We see forest fuels that are drying out until we have a significant amount of rainfall, which as we know is not in the current forecast,” said Kimberly Kelly, a spokesperson for the Coastal Fire Centre.
Armel Castellan, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said there is a small chance of rain for much of the South Coast, adding what the region needs is a "Juneuary."
This weather phenomenon is when June sees weather systems similar to those in January.
“These are the systems that are kind of nebulous; they don't move very quickly, like the winter storms that have a lot of power. These ones stick around and they bring some moisture and they're kind of what we need in order to really put to bed all of the dryness that we've been accumulating for months -- if not several seasons,” Castellan said.
The spring snowmelt is also almost gone, he said, which creates an even drier landscape.
“So it really does spell out pretty droughty looking bleak future for the coming weeks and months,” he said. “We're well into the start of a drought, when typically we haven't seen those numbers this early in the season – so, it is saying a lot.”
According to B.C.’s drought information portal, much of the province is seeing drought levels one and two, meaning adverse drought impacts are rare or unlikely.
The eastern Peace region is seeing possible negative impacts of drought.
Typically during this time of year, B.C. should be sitting at level zero, Castellan said.
Over to northeastern B.C. and the Cariboo region, there will be some storms and gusty winds where out-of-control wildfires continue to rage on.
“Very challenging conditions for fires that are already existing. And of course, possible lightning overnight Saturday into Sunday, which could start new fires on a landscape that is pretty parched and dry,” he said.
BC Wildfire Service encourages anyone who sees an out-of-control wildfire or campfire to call 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on a cellphone.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.