British Columbia's wildfire service says a significant change in the weather could cause another burst of wildfire activity, with extensive thunderstorms expected in the north and parts of the south after weeks of hot and dry weather.
For information on road closures please visit: https://t.co/yX0dmeOK53 pic.twitter.com/eJjLyNm6QF
— BC Wildfire Service (@BCGovFireInfo) July 23, 2024
Lightning is the cause of the vast majority of the approximately 380 fires burning across B.C. and a bulletin from the service says the province saw more than 20,000 strikes on Monday.
Environment Canada's lightning tracker showed significant activity overnight stretching from Kamloops in the southern Interior through the Rockies and Cariboo regions into the Peace River area and the province's northwest.
The Regional District of Central Kootenay has issued an EXPANDED #Evacuation Order for properties along #BCHwy6 South of Enterprise Creek to Slocan lookout in Electoral Area H due to the Aylwin Creek #BCWildfire. Anyone in the affected area must evacuate NOW. More info:… https://t.co/zfFHVBr0VD
— Emergency Info BC (@EmergencyInfoBC) July 23, 2024
The Transport Ministry is discouraging non-essential travel to wildfire areas, with nearby fires forcing the closures of Highway 1 south of Cache Creek, Highway 26 near Wells and Barkerville, and Highway 6 south of Silverton.
Motorists are also warned to stay off routes from Jasper National Park in Alberta, as thousands of Albertan fire evacuees are forced to drive through B.C. to get to reception centres in Calgary and Grande Prairie.
Those evacuees are being directed back to their own province because B.C. has "no capacity to house Albertans" according to Alberta Emergency Management Agency managing director Stephen Lacroix.
The number of wildfires in B.C. has soared from less than 100 two weeks ago, with the Shetland Creek fire in the Thompson-Nicola region, the Aylwin Creek blaze in Central Kootenay and the Antler Creek fire in the Cariboo region all triggering evacuation orders and alerts.
Silverton, B.C., Mayor Tanya Gordon says the weather has cleared the smoke near the Central Kootenay village, but it has added to residents' anxiety because people can now easily see Aylwin and Komondo Creek fires burning just south of the community.
Gordon says the village has not received any updates from the wildfire service on the status of the fires and residents are "anxious" as Highway 6 southbound out of town has been closed.
"The smoke has lifted, and it's becoming more real," Gordon says of the fire situation. "Something like this hasn't happened (in Silverton) for a long time."
She says residents are also nervous about a number of fires further north on Highway 6, which is the only major route out of the community.
"When this is over, we definitely need to sit down to think about evacuation routes (in the future)," Gordon says.
B.C. has been dealing with an influx of travellers from Jasper since Monday night, when a fire forced park visitors and 4,700 residents of the town to flee west with little notice.
Photos and video on social media show a midnight cavalcade of bumper-to-bumper vehicles making slow progress through swirling smoke.
B.C. Minister of Emergency Management Bowinn Ma said in a social media post that the province would do everything it could to provide safe refuge for evacuees.
In the Thompson-Nicola region, the nearly 200-square-kilometre Shetland Creek fire burning between Ashcroft and Spences Bridge continues to threaten a stretch of communities south of Cache Creek, B.C.
An evacuation alert is meanwhile in effect for properties on the west side of Williams Lake, where crews stopped a fast-moving fire from advancing further into the central Interior community after it destroyed structures in an industrial area.
Environment Canada has issued rainfall warnings for parts of northwestern B.C., while in the northeast, the forecast for Fort Nelson shows the risk of a thunderstorm, a chance of showers and widespread smoke from fires in the area.
The wildfire service says isolated downpours may be accompanied by hail and erratic winds with the potential to fan fires and affect aerial firefighting and access to dirt roads.
Heat warnings that covered parts of the province for weeks have been lifted, replaced with special air quality statements due to wildfire smoke spanning the length of B.C.'s boundary with Alberta.
