By Adam Donnelly

Conditions improving for BC Wildfire Service, still plenty of work to be done

Sep 11, 2018 | 2:33 PM

KAMLOOPS — With the nights getting longer and temperatures throughout the province falling well into the single digits overnight, the fight against wildfires throughout the province has now swung in favour of the BC Wildfire Service.

Despite the improved conditions, there are still more than 400 wildfires burning throughout BC. Fire Information Officer Ryan Turcot says crews are starting to have some more success on those fires as a result of the cooler temperatures, including on a number of the larger wildfires of note still active across the province.

“There’s still work to be done out there. There are still 440 active wildfires across the province, but we’re starting to see a significant downturn in some of the activity on these larger wildfires,” Turcot says. “We’re making good progress. If you look at the 24 Wildfires of Note that are still burning out there, a lot of them are now in a ‘being held’ status or we’re at least seeing a containment percentage around those.”

The Northwest Fire Centre continues to be one of the hardest hit regions in the province, with several sizeable fires continuing to burn throughout the region. Turcot says those fires have also had some of the greatest impact on people during the past few months.

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“All six regional fire centres still have some Wildfires of Note that are on our radar,” Turcot says. “Some of the wildfires in the Northwest Fire Centre continue to be some our highest priorities… Given the scale of some of those wildfires, just in terms of how large they grew and the impact the had on some communities and residents… those still continue to be one of our main areas of focus.”