Yesterday’s thunderstorms across the Bulkley Valley and Lakes District (BVLD) certainly showed that Mother Nature isn’t messing around.
BC Wildfire Services say they recorded 115 new wildfires yesterday, 30 of which were in the BVLD. All of the fires in the Northwest region are said to be caused by lightning strikes.
Chief Fire Information Officer with the BC Wildfire Services, Kevin Skrepnek, talks a little bit about the madness that took place.
“It was definitely a busy day yesterday in terms of wildfires across most of the province. It was certainly one of the more busier times of the year and has kept most of our crews busy. Thankfully, none of these fires pose a significant risk to any communities in the BVLD. There are zero evacuation alerts or orders in place, which is a good sign after a day like yesterday.”
Skrepnek says a couple fires that broke out yesterday were a little more concerning than others.
“A couple significant areas of worry were in the Burns Lake area. One fire that broke out near Maxan Lake was approximately 90-hectares in size but it’s difficult at this time to gauge the entirety of the damage. I’m happy to say the fire near Maxan Lake has definitely gone down in terms of activity. Another fire 30 kilometers East of Burns Lake also got a lot of attention. That fire was around 5 hectares and was increasing in activity as of this morning. We’ve got crews working in that area both on the ground and in the air, as water bombers have been deployed. There are also a series of fires we’re keeping an eye on around Kitwanga. These fires are smaller in size and don’t pose any serious risk to the surrounding area.”
Skrepnek says although none of us can control Mother Nature, we can play our part in helping mitigate these fires.
“When we’re having an extreme level of naturally occurring fires like we saw yesterday, it’s never more important for people to be careful out there. When we see dozens of fires being caused by lightning, the last thing we want to deal with is a preventable, human-caused fire.”
Skrepnek says they are all hands on deck today as they prepare for similar conditions to that of yesterday.
If you see a wildfire break out, you can contact the BC Wildfire Services here.