Wildfire service on 'heightened alert' as unprecedented heat sparks early season fires

Vancouver -

Marshall Potts moved to Sparks Lake in 2016 as part of what he called his “spiritual journey.”

On Tuesday, the musician and rancher, who started with a small cabin, and now looks after dozens of cattle and chickens, was forced to evacuate the home he and his partner share, as a wildfire beared down.

“We’re packed up with our photos and anything that’s important to us, including my two favourite amps, two favourite guitars,” Potts said, hours before they were placed under evacuation order.

The fire, which the B.C. Wildfire Service said was spotted Monday afternoon, grew quickly, jumping to 350 hectares by Tuesday morning, then suddenly mushrooming to 750 hectares after noon.

“It looks we got to go,” Potts said in a video posted to his Instagram account.

“It’s now hit that ridge and she’s candling and she’s probably going to come into our place now. Thanks for all the prayers and stuff.”

Jean Strong, a fire information officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service, said crews were “on a heightened alert,” chiefly because the unprecedented heat, where temperatures in some spots have approached 50, combined with a drier than average spring has quickly put most of the province under high to extreme fire danger.

And Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan said some of the conditions appear to be mirroring one of the worst fire seasons on record.

“There’s a lot of similarities to 2017 when the Cariboo essentially exploded, but that was later (in the season),” he said.

Strong said it was too early to predict what the winds and weather patterns may have in store.

“ I understand that there’s anxiety in a lot of areas of the province that have been affected by these fires in the past, and rightfully so,” she said.

“But I want the public know that we are prepared for whatever activity might happen.”

Strong said the service was preparing by deploying crews to high risk areas, as well as aircraft patrols to spot fires as soon as they spark.

And while she said roughly a third of some two dozen fires currently burning in B.C., including the Sparks Lake fire northwest of Kamloops, are believed to be human-caused, lightning is also a significant concern.

Castellan said dry lightning would be a risk on Wednesday from the extreme northeast of the province near Fort Nelson, straight down through the Cariboo.

Back near Sparks Lake, as Potts’ ranch as eight other properties were ordered to evacuate, the musician said he wanted to thank the firefighters not only for battling the flames, but for doing so in extreme conditions.

“Humanity hasn’t lost its humanity,” Potts said. “People are here to help and we’re all here to help each other.”