More heat warnings possible for B.C. Interior as nearly 300 wildfires rage
More dangerously hot weather could be on the way for the B.C. Interior as nearly 300 wildfires burn across the province.
According to the B.C. Wildfire Service dashboard, 283 fires were burning Saturday afternoon, a number that steadily increased during the day. Of those fires, 84 started just in the last 48 hours.
The Cariboo Regional District also issued three evacuation alerts due to wildfires near 100 Mile House Saturday afternoon.
Doug Lundquist, a meteorologist with Environment Canada based in Kamloops, says new fires are popping up all through the Interior.
“We’re surrounded from the north to the south and all the way into the U.S.,” Lundquist said, adding he’s concerned about the unusually early start to the fire season.
“Not only did we have a record dry spring here in the Interior and in many places, but we had that unprecedented heat, so we’re starting from a very difficult place for wildfires,” he said.
At least 64 per cent of the fires burning are believed to have been started by lightning strikes, exacerbated by the tinder-dry conditions.
“It’s so dry, in fact, that precipitation coming from the clouds is often evaporating before it hits the ground,” Lundquist said. “The whole province is just being battered by lightning and it’s just concerning.”
Hotter conditions are also in the forecast. Kamloops is expected to reach 37 degrees on Tuesday, and highs of 35 are predicted for Kelowna next week.
“We’re so close to maybe issuing another heat warning, we may have to do that in the next day or two,” Lundquist said. “It’s nothing like what we saw in June, but my concern is that it’s ongoing.”
WILDFIRE SMOKE CONCERNS
As the number of fires grows, so does concern about air quality.
Jim Mandeville, of First OnSite Property Restoration, and has been working on wildfire recovery for more than 10 years. Based in Toronto, Mandeville says he’s worked on recovery efforts in Slave Lake in 2011, Fort McMurray in 2016 and the B.C. Interior in 2017 and 2018. He’s planning to be back in B.C. on Monday to assist businesses with air purification.
“Next week, we’re just installing and maintaining and monitoring air purification equipment in businesses from Prince George all the way down to the U.S. border,” Mandeville said.
He says this kind of work has become “the new normal” since B.C.’s 2017 fire season.
“I’m worried every year now,” he said.
The smoke is currently contained to inland areas, but Lundquist said it is possible for the wind to push it toward the coast.
“If a system is moving toward us (in the Interior) and a cold front is moving towards us, sometimes the way that pressure patterns work is that it draws the air out from the Interior,” he said. “That’s the kind of thing we’re looking for to see if this smoke will make it to the coast.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
NEW 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire': A crowd pleaser that turns it up to 11
Hot on the heels of last year's 'Godzilla Minus One' comes 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,' the first ever Academy Award winner in the giant reptile's decades-long film career.