Brief rainy spell won’t end drought or wildfire risk, B.C. officials warn

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If you think a day or two of rain means the wildfire risk has dissipated, think again.

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“Despite scattered showers throughout much of the province on Monday, people are urged to be prepared and continue to follow all regional fire prohibitions and local water restrictions due to extreme wildfire risks and the ongoing drought,” said the B.C. Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness in a release Monday.

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Most of the province is still in Drought Level 4 or 5, the highest level, even after the recent rain, and water conservation remains important. The wildfire danger rating in much of the south half of the province is high to extreme, along with some parts of northeast B.C.

Several wildfires in the Kamloops Fire Centre continued to grow over the weekend, with the Ross Moore Lake fire south of Kamloops now estimated at 26 square kilometres. An evacuation order in the Casper Creek area has been expanded to those in Seton Portage and the Tsal’alh First Nation.

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As of Monday, just over 1,000 people are under evacuation orders and about 3,700 are on alert.

Since the start of April, B.C. has had 1,454 wildfires that have burned nearly 15,000 sq. km of land. (The Donnie Creek wildfire, the largest in B.C. history, accounts for nearly a third of that total. It has scorched over 5,800 sq. km.)

Some 481 of the fires are active and more than half of those are considered out of control.  accounts

B.C. has close to 600 firefighting personnel helping out from other jurisdictions, including some from Mexico, Australia, Brazil and the U.S., along with crews from the Canadian Armed Forces and Canadian Coast Guard.

To report a wildfire, unattended campfire or violation of open burning restrictions, call-1 800-663-5555 toll or hit *5555 on a cellphone. You can also use the BC Wildfire Service app on an Android or Apple device.

jruttle@postmedia.com

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