While September brings shorter days and cooler nights, B.C. officials are stressing the risk of wildfire remains high.
The province has seen above average temperatures in recent weeks, including record-breaking daytime highs in some communities, coupled with an increase in lightning strikes. Officials said during a wildfire update on Monday that has contributed to an extended wildfire season.
“Now we’re seeing a September fire season, which is not abnormal for British Columbia, but certainly not something we deal with every year to this magnitude,” said Cliff Chapman, Director of Operations for the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS).
BCWS said there were 144 active wildfires in the province as of Monday afternoon, including 48 listed as out of control.
A little over 8254 square kilometres has burned throughout B.C. this wildfire season. Chapman said that’s slightly above the 10-year average and noted much of it was due to intense and widespread burning in northeastern B.C. earlier in the season.
Chapman said the province was fortunate that it didn’t see a prolonged heat wave until late in the season.
“In June, July and August, we were able to send hundreds of firefighting personnel to support other agencies in their times of need, and over the course of the last ten years…most of the time in July and August we are seeking that support for British Columbia, so a real reversal there,” said Chapman.
Hundreds remain under evacuation orders
Kevin Dunbar with the emergency management ministry said about 550 people are under evacuation orders in the province.
That includes dozens of properties along Highway 20 in the Cariboo region due to the Smokey Lake wildfire.
The Cariboo Regional District and Ulkatcho First Nation also issued evacuation orders and alerts for hundreds more properties threatened by the Beef Trail Creek, Dusty Lake and Tsetzi Lake fires.
Dunbar also said about 650 British Columbians are under evacuation alert, meaning they should be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
Meanwhile, smokey skies persist across much of B.C. Special air quality statements are expected to remain in place across central and eastern B.C. for the next one to two days.
Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Kelly Greene said B.C. residents in smokey areas should keep their windows closed and use an air filter at home, or seek out places with cool, filtered air, like shopping malls or libraries.
Late-season heat wave prompts water restrictions
Severe low river flows in the southern Interior have prompted temporary protection orders for Bessette Creek and Salmon River to protect fish and other species.
B.C.’s Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Minister Randene Neil said the hot, dry weather has increased ongoing drought conditions in many parts of the province.
Close to 500 surface and ground water licenses in the affected watersheds have been ordered to stop using water for forage crops like hay, alfalfa and forage corn.
About 20 more licenses are also being told to stop using water for lawn, fairway and garden industrial purposes.
Neil said such protection orders are issued as a last resort. She said voluntary water conservative measures worked to delay the step until later in the season, compared to previous years.
“When stream flows drop to critical levels and vulnerable species are at risk, in this case our endangered chinook salmon population, we must take regulatory action,” said Neil Monday.
Temporary protection orders were previously issued in the area in 2021 and 2023.
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