Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

Lightning sparks about 200 new wildfires across B.C. as heat grips Interior

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 10 Jul, 2023 12:36 PM
  • Lightning sparks about 200 new wildfires across B.C. as heat grips Interior

Hundreds of lightning strikes in many parts of British Columbia almost tripled the number of active wildfires in the province over the weekend, with most burning in central and northern B.C.

The BC Wildfire Service is reporting more than 300 fires, with 87 spotted in the last 24 hours and almost 200 of the total number ranked as out of control.

The wildfire service is bracing for challenging conditions, with lightning storms still in the forecast for most of the week, as well as heat warnings or above-average temperatures through the central Interior.

Of the 13 blazes listed as "fires of note," all but two are located in the Prince George and Northwest fire centres, and the wildfire service says 11 have prompted at least one evacuation order, although no major communities are threatened.

Some of the fires are threatening rural highways, including Highway 27 south of Fort St. James and Highway 77 north of Fort Nelson, while flames first spotted last Thursday near the Yukon boundary now cover 300 square kilometres close to Highway 37, but aren't immediately affecting the link to Watson Lake and Whitehorse.

A wildfire in Yukon has roughly tripled in size since Sunday and remains out of control, charring about three square kilometres of bush in the Ibex Valley, about 30 kilometres due west of Whitehorse, south of the Alaska Highway, prompting an evacuation alert for numerous properties along the route.

B.C.'s wildfire danger was high to extreme across all but small pockets of the province on Monday.

Environment Canada posted a severe thunderstorm watch for the Fort Nelson and Peace River regions, the same area where large fires forced evacuations in July.

The weather office noted daily high temperature records were set in the province Sunday, including a high of 33 degrees Celsius in Fort Nelson, two degrees hotter than the previous record for that northeastern community, set 64 years ago.

Forecasters said Nakusp in B.C.'s southeast also posted a sizzling 37.2 C on Sunday, edging its old mark set 22 years earlier, and while no daily highs were posted in Yukon, that territory remains under heat warnings stretching almost 500 kilometres from its boundaries with B.C. and the Northwest Territories north to Mayo. 

Conditions could ease slightly in B.C. by Tuesday, but Environment Canada said cooler weather was not likely in Yukon for several more days. 

MORE National ARTICLES

Teenage hiker Esther Wang is found safe after two days lost in B.C. park

Teenage hiker Esther Wang is found safe after two days lost in B.C. park
Team manager Ryan Smith with Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue says Esther Wang was located Thursday night and has gone home with her family after a medical assessment. RCMP say the 16-year-old from Langley, B.C., was part of a group of four people who were hiking in Golden Ears Provincial Park on Tuesday.

Teenage hiker Esther Wang is found safe after two days lost in B.C. park

Transit altercation results in a broken jaw and severed finger

Transit altercation results in a broken jaw and severed finger
On May 23rd just before 6:00 p.m., a physical altercation took place between two men, not known to each other, as they were boarding the same bus at the Marine Drive Canada Line Station in Vancouver. During the course of the altercation, a bus window was broken and a bystander was injured.  

Transit altercation results in a broken jaw and severed finger

B.C. staff who failed to check on two abused foster children lose jobs: ministry

B.C. staff who failed to check on two abused foster children lose jobs: ministry
While the Ministry of Children and Family Development did not provide the names or the number of people involved, it said in a statement "the staff who were directly involved in this case are no longer employed by the ministry." The statement said ministry staff did not follow its policy that children in care should be seen regularly by a social worker.    

B.C. staff who failed to check on two abused foster children lose jobs: ministry

7 infrastructure projects coming to BC

7 infrastructure projects coming to BC
A joint investment of more than 5.5-million-dollars will support work in Williams Lake, Prince George, Prince Rupert and Merritt. The projects involve improvements to the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex in Williams Lake as well as ventilation in four schools and a social housing complex in the northern region.

7 infrastructure projects coming to BC

Multiple boats stolen in Kelowna

Multiple boats stolen in Kelowna
Police are looking for witnesses after multiple boats were stolen from a locked campground in Kelowna. R-C-M-P say 14 boats were stolen between June 20th and 27th from McCurdy Place from within plain view of traffic on Highway 97.  

Multiple boats stolen in Kelowna

Searchers look for B.C. teen missing in provincial park since Tuesday

Searchers look for B.C. teen missing in provincial park since Tuesday
RCMP say 16-year-old Esther Wang from Langley, B.C., was part of a group of four people who were hiking in Golden Ears Provincial Park on Tuesday.  The group left a lookout point at about 2:45 p.m. to head back to their campground and about 15 minutes later they noticed that Wang was missing.

Searchers look for B.C. teen missing in provincial park since Tuesday