Close X
Sunday, November 24, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C.'s largest wildfire still threatens, as conditions elsewhere ease

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 16 Jun, 2023 10:39 AM
  • B.C.'s largest wildfire still threatens, as conditions elsewhere ease

Rain and cooler weather over much of British Columbia has prompted two fire centres in the southern and central Interior to roll back campfire bans.

The Kamloops and Cariboo fire centres say the Category 1 open fire ban will lift at noon Friday, covering blazes no larger than 1.5-metres high by 1.5-metres wide. 

Restrictions on all other types of fires, including prohibitions on equipment such as burn barrels, fireworks and sky lanterns, remain in place.

The change comes as the wildfire danger rating in B.C. falls to moderate, low or very low across much of the central and southern Interior.

Vancouver Island, the central and northern B.C. coasts and most northern regions of the province remain ranked at a high to extreme risk of fires. 

Several fires are burning out of control in those areas, including the nearly 5,100-square-kilometre Donnie Creek wildfire south of Fort Nelson that has forced an evacuation alert along a section of the Alaska Highway, and remains out of control.

Rain farther south in the Dawson Creek area this week calmed the Kiskatinaw wildfire, allowing the 2,400 residents of Tumbler Ridge to return to their homes Thursday, one week after an evacuation was ordered.

But a statement from the wildfire service said most of the rain that eased the situation there will skirt the area south of Fort Nelson.

"Saturday may be somewhat showery in the system’s wake, but modelling suggests the Donnie Creek fire will remain dry," the statement said. "Winds should ease but should be coming from the southwest and west." 

The largest wildfire recorded in B.C. in recent times was the Plateau fire that charred 5,210 square kilometres northwest of Williams Lake in 2017.

Fire forecasts say conditions remain extremely dry in the boreal forest where the Donnie Creek blaze was sparked by lightning on May 12, meaning it still has the potential to burn vigorously and spread farther, possibly surpassing the Plateau fire as B.C.'s largest. 

 

MORE National ARTICLES

City of Vancouver to expedite housing permits

City of Vancouver to expedite housing permits
Mayor Ken Sim says the introduction of the e-Comply program -- the first of its kind in Canada -- is a “game-changer” that is getting more homes built faster. City council also adopted Sim’s 3-3-3-1 campaign promise, with a commitment on permit approval timelines.

City of Vancouver to expedite housing permits

Canada halts activity at Asian development bank, looks to review its membership

Canada halts activity at Asian development bank, looks to review its membership
China founded the US$100-billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in late 2015 to provide other countries in the region access to capital for investments in projects in areas such as transportation, power and telecommunications.

Canada halts activity at Asian development bank, looks to review its membership

Home sales strong in May

Home sales strong in May
A statement from the association says nearly 92-hundred sales were recorded around B-C in May -- up nearly 10 per cent year-over-year -- while the average price climbed three per cent during the same period, to just over one-million dollars.

Home sales strong in May

BC Greens leader wants change in health care

BC Greens leader wants change in health care
Furstenau says the N-D-P government should start by reforming health-care leadership, bureaucracy, measurable patient outcomes and even how the province's health authorities spend their money.  

BC Greens leader wants change in health care

B.C. becomes first province to provide universal coverage for opioid treatments

B.C. becomes first province to provide universal coverage for opioid treatments
A statement from the Health Ministry says B-C will now provide universal coverage for eligible drugs -- which include methadone -- that are rated as opioid agonist treatment medications.

B.C. becomes first province to provide universal coverage for opioid treatments

B.C. border agents find 6,300 kg of meth, including largest single seizure to date

B.C. border agents find 6,300 kg of meth, including largest single seizure to date
In December of last year, agents in Burnaby found 40 jugs containing just over 200 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, and a month later 180 containers with 2,900 kilograms of liquid methamphetamine were seized coming through the container examination facility in Delta. 

B.C. border agents find 6,300 kg of meth, including largest single seizure to date