The BC Wildfire Service is predicting that given the forecasted conditions, and the extraordinarily busy month they’ve had so far, the Wildfire situation in B.C. is likely to get worse before we see any improvements.
Kevin Skrepnek of BC Wildfire Service said that August is one of the busiest months for wildfires, and so far, they've responded to 884 fires across the province.
PHOTO: Coast Mountain range this morning as #BCwildfire smoke from the Interior starts to drift towards the ocean. pic.twitter.com/AHRFjTRwR3
— BC Wildfire Service (@BCGovFireInfo) August 1, 2017
There are currently 125 fires burning across the province and 16 new fires that started yesterday alone. The total number of hectares burned is at 588,000 hectares.
“We’ve had an extraordinarily busy month already, in many ways unprecedented, in terms of weather,” says Skrepnek.
“We are preparing for a challenging few days ahead of us with more of the same in terms of weather.”
The forecast for the days to come shows “more of the same.” Tinder dry conditions and an increased chance of thundershowers with very little rain are likely to make any new fires that start difficult to contain.
Because of these unfavourable conditions persisting at the point we are in the fire season, Skrepnek says “The situation, in all likelihood, is going to be getting worse before it gets better,” despite the amount of hard work that’s going on right now by fire personnel.
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