Lightning-triggered wildfires lead to more evacuations in B.C.

Several lightning-triggered wildfires have forced authorities in British Columbia to issue evacuation orders as the province's southern and eastern regions swelter in a heat wave. An aerial view of a wildfire burning on Steamboat Mountain is shown in a July 17, 2024 BC Wildfire Service handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-BC Wildfire Service

Lightning-triggered wildfires over the weekend have prompted a number of evacuation orders and alerts across British Columbia, a situation that has been exacerbated by an ongoing heat wave.

The BC Wildfire Service said Sunday that crews are battling more than 300 blazes, with several evacuation orders in effect in both Central and East Kootenay as well as in Thompson-Nicola, Cariboo and Bulkley — Nechako in the northwest.

"Fire suppression efforts continue to be challenged due to hot, dry conditions and localized winds," the wildfire service said in its Sunday update. "A three week heat wave continues, and more hot and dry conditions are expected to continue for most of the province."

Environment Canada said 14 B.C. communities broke or matched their daily high-temperature records on Saturday, with Lytton reaching a high of 41.2 degrees — breaking a record of 40.6 degrees set in 1946.

Temperature records also fell in the B.C. communities of Cranbrook, Merritt, Princeton, Trail and Vernon, with all five communities reaching at least 36 degrees.

Firefighters say the high temperatures have made conditions difficult once a fire ignites, with crews having to prioritize initial attacks on newly discovered blazes.

One such fire is the Island Pond fire about 17 kilometres south of Canal Flats, B.C., in the East Kootenay that was discovered Saturday and grew to about 1 square kilometre on Sunday.

The Regional District of East Kootenay has declared a state of local emergency and issued an evacuation order for two addresses as a result, and has also warned another 65 properties to be prepared to leave on short notice.

At the Cariboo Regional District in central Interior B.C., officials have ordered residents on 29 parcels of land in the Kuyakuz Lake area covering 923 square kilometres to evacuate immediately, with five out-of-control wildfires burning nearby.

Four of the five blazes have been confirmed to be lightning-caused.

The regional district has also issued evacuation orders for the Barkerville Historic Town and Park heritage site with a cluster of out-of-control fires — including the 13.5-square-kilometre Antler Creek blaze — burning in the area.

The same blaze has triggered an evacuation order for the community of Wells, B.C., on Sunday, with the local government declaring Antler Creek as "a significant threat to the health, safety, and welfare of persons."

Barkerville public programming and media manager Stewart Cawood said an earlier evacuation alert led to the park closing on Sunday, and he is unsure when the heritage site will reopen.

"It's incredibly frustrating," Cawood said, noting the park has been working hard to regain visitor traffic since the end of the COVID pandemic. "Unfortunately, we are at the whims and wills of Mother Nature, so there's not much we can do.

"When something like this happens, we just have to be able to roll with the punches and keep everybody safe."

Cawood said he was also concerned about the longer-term implications of wildfires' effect on B.C.'s tourism sector on places like Barkerville.

"Up until last week, we were seeing a rise of about 12 per cent in our numbers from last year, so we've been seeing a nice, steady incline since we've had to scale things back during the COVID years," he said.

The Cariboo Regional District said in its evacuation order that police and others will be "expediting" Barkerville's evacuation due to "immediate danger to life safety due to fire."

The new evacuation orders and alerts come as the Shetland Creek fire about eight kilometres north of Spences Bridge, B.C., is holding at about 150 square kilometres in size.

The BC Wildfire Service dashboard says about 87 per cent of the more than 300 blazes burning in the province have been caused by lightning.

All evacuation orders and alerts linked to the Shetland Creek blaze in B.C.'s Thompson-Nicola region remain in place on Sunday for communities such as Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Spences Bridge and the Ashcroft First Nation.

In the Central Kootenay, the community of Silverton, B.C., also remained on alert Sunday while 107 properties south of the village were under an evacuation order due to the nearby Aylwin Creek wildfire.

Aylwin Creek and nearby Komonko Creek remained at a combined size of 6.5 square kilometres Sunday, and Highway 6 south of Silverton has been closed due to the two out-of-control wildfires.

Evacuation orders have also been issued across Slocan Lake from Silverton, with residents and visitors at 21 waterfront parcels as well as a small part of Valhalla Provincial Park near Nemo Creek being told to leave immediately. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2024.