Lower East Adams Lake Wildfire, 2023 (Image Credit: CFJC Today / Michael Reeve

By Michael Reeve

HOLDOVER FIRES

Devastating 2023 wildfire season presents possibility of spring holdover fires

Feb 28, 2024 | 5:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — The 2023 wildfire season was the most destructive in British Columbia’s recorded history. More than 2.84 million hectares of land was burned by 2,245 individual wildfires across the province. The Kamloops fire centre was the second-hardest hit region of the province, behind Prince George, with 388 fires, including a dozen classified as ‘fires of note’.

Despite the winter weather outside, 93 smouldering fires remain active across B.C. While no fires are currently listed within the Kamloops centre, last year’s devastating season has sparked the potential for holdovers.

“When we have larger fires, similar to some of the ones we had last season, it can have the potential for us to have some holdover fires that pop up when we have the DUFF moisture codes (a numeric rating of the average moisture content of loosely compacted organic layers of moderate depth) and things beginning to dry out as we get into those spring months — especially before we see those June rains that we may have as well,” said BC Wildfire Information Officer Melanie Bibeau.

Bibeau noted the new year-round service is beginning to gear up for the season ahead. The vast majority of holdover fires will pop up within existing fire perimeters.

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“Typically, when we do have those holdover fires, they will be popping up with that smoke in areas that are within the fire perimeter,” said Bibeau. “In saying that, we also would like to remind the public that if you are seeing smoke in the area of a wildfire but that was not within the fire perimeter, we encourage people to use the *5555 number.”

Fire danger remains low thanks to snow throughout the higher elevations of the province, but with lower-than-average snowpack, the possibility of drought will likely play a critical role this fire season.

“The message and the story has been, February was considerably dry compared to normal conditions and that following periods of time when it has been relatively dry through the summer and relatively warm, still the snowpack is quite low,” said Jonathan Boyd, hydrologist with the BC River Forecast Centre.

Once the snow melts and temperatures begin to rise, the BC Wildfire Service will conduct precautionary patrols for potential holdover starts throughout the fire-damaged regions of the province.

“In those areas that did have those larger wildfires last year, we will do patrols, use things like infrared scanning and overhead flights to patrol for any new smoke that may come up from those preexisting fires from last season,” added Bibeau.