There seems to be no quick end in sight for the nearly 300 wildfires blazing their way through B.C.’s Interior, and a travel warning has been issued as the blazes are expected to worsen through the weekend..As of 11 a.m. August 13, nearly 270 active fires are alight in the province with the lion’s share, 86, burning in the Kamloops area..The entire community of Logan Lake, B.C., in the Southern Interior, has been ordered to evacuate Thursday afternoon due to immediate danger from a nearby wildfire..The order affected about 2,000 residents who were previously under an evacuation alert..Emergency Management BC urged travellers in a terse statement to stay away from the communities of Armstrong, Spallumcheen, Okanagan Indian Band, Enderby, and parts of the Regional District North Okanagan..Geoffrey Thompson is a flight attendant with Air North Yukon’s Airline who shot and shared with the Western Standard video from the air of fires near Kelowna (see video here) August 11..“Thinking of everyone affected by the fires and hoping that they are all safe and can return home soon,” he said in a message to Western Standard..“Thank you to all the tireless frontline and behind-the-scenes workers, volunteers and their families who have come together during this trying time.”.As temperatures rose to extreme highs on Thursday and winds picked up in parts of the province, aggressive wildfire behaviour was seen with some of B.C.’s most disturbing fires, leading to more evacuation orders and alerts..The deputy forests minister told reporters Thursday unlike previous years, firefighters aren’t seeing fire conditions relax at night, because humidity levels are so low and nighttime temperatures are so high, a situation that prompted Environment Canada to warn drifting wildfire smoke will cause air quality problems across most of southern B.C. over the next couple of days..“It really limits our ability to make progress in the evening periods outside of the burning cycle,” Rick Manwaring said..Temperatures are expected to hit the high 30s or even low 40s in some parts of southern B.C. which leads the wildfire service to predict hot and dry conditions that will most likely mean increased fire activity over the next few days..Nearly 1,500 wildfires have started since April 1, which has resulted in the burning of more than 6,600 square kilometres of land..Mike D’Amour is the British Columbia Bureau Chief for the Western Standard..,.mdamour@westernstandardonline.com
There seems to be no quick end in sight for the nearly 300 wildfires blazing their way through B.C.’s Interior, and a travel warning has been issued as the blazes are expected to worsen through the weekend..As of 11 a.m. August 13, nearly 270 active fires are alight in the province with the lion’s share, 86, burning in the Kamloops area..The entire community of Logan Lake, B.C., in the Southern Interior, has been ordered to evacuate Thursday afternoon due to immediate danger from a nearby wildfire..The order affected about 2,000 residents who were previously under an evacuation alert..Emergency Management BC urged travellers in a terse statement to stay away from the communities of Armstrong, Spallumcheen, Okanagan Indian Band, Enderby, and parts of the Regional District North Okanagan..Geoffrey Thompson is a flight attendant with Air North Yukon’s Airline who shot and shared with the Western Standard video from the air of fires near Kelowna (see video here) August 11..“Thinking of everyone affected by the fires and hoping that they are all safe and can return home soon,” he said in a message to Western Standard..“Thank you to all the tireless frontline and behind-the-scenes workers, volunteers and their families who have come together during this trying time.”.As temperatures rose to extreme highs on Thursday and winds picked up in parts of the province, aggressive wildfire behaviour was seen with some of B.C.’s most disturbing fires, leading to more evacuation orders and alerts..The deputy forests minister told reporters Thursday unlike previous years, firefighters aren’t seeing fire conditions relax at night, because humidity levels are so low and nighttime temperatures are so high, a situation that prompted Environment Canada to warn drifting wildfire smoke will cause air quality problems across most of southern B.C. over the next couple of days..“It really limits our ability to make progress in the evening periods outside of the burning cycle,” Rick Manwaring said..Temperatures are expected to hit the high 30s or even low 40s in some parts of southern B.C. which leads the wildfire service to predict hot and dry conditions that will most likely mean increased fire activity over the next few days..Nearly 1,500 wildfires have started since April 1, which has resulted in the burning of more than 6,600 square kilometres of land..Mike D’Amour is the British Columbia Bureau Chief for the Western Standard..,.mdamour@westernstandardonline.com
