By Greg Fry / James Peters

Lightning strikes contribute to more than 100 new fire starts in B.C.

Jun 21, 2018 | 10:45 AM

KAMLOOPS — Mother Nature is spreading her wrath over British Columbia.

Chief Fire Information Officer Kevin Skrepnek says 19,000 lightning strikes province-wide Wednesday were largely responsible for 115 new fires.

“And unfortunately we expect that level of activity is likely going to continue today,” he says. “The good news is none of these fires have emerged as a significant challenge and so far they are relatively small with the exception of a few that have gotten to some larger sizes, particularly up north.”

On the bright side however, he says no communities have been threatened at this point by the blazes and no evacuation alerts or orders are being considered at this moment.

Closer to home, Skrepnek says 12 of those fire starts occurred in the Kamloops Fire Centre — the largest being the 21 hectare fire out at Tunkwa Lake, which is located between Logan Lake and Savona.

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Kamloops Fire Centre officials say a helicopter and 30 personnel are on site at the fire, and it is still classified as out of control.

A six hectare fire was been sparked about 22 kilometres northwest of Merritt.

Dubbed the Gordon Creek wildfire, this blaze is burning in heavy timber.

One helicopter and 16 personnel are working to get it extinguished.

Looking ahead, he says more forecast lightning today combined with high winds could also fan the flames.

So far, Skrepnek says no structures have been lost and none are currently threatened. He says the cool and damp weather earlier this month has helped ensure fires haven’t spread as aggressively as they could have.

Looking forward to this weekend, Skrepnek is urging people headed out camping to be cautious with their fire use.