Nearly 100 reported wildfires in BC as crews hope for better weather

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FORT ST. JOHN (NEWS 1130) – Heading into the weekend, crews say nine new wildfires have been reported in BC over the last 24 hours, raising the number of active blazes to 95.

Fire Information Officer Ryan Turcot says conditions in the hard-hit northeastern part of the province are easing.

“In the last couple of days, the weather conditions have become more favourable. And we are expecting cooler temperatures in the next couple of days as well, lighter winds with some precipitation and that’s especially the case up in the Peace Region where that’s needed the most. The Peace Region should see some light showers by Sunday.”

Among the largest wildfires is the Beatton Airport Road blaze northwest of Fort St. John. It’s five per cent contained but still 6,300 hectares in size.

“Traditionally, the air tanker fleet doesn’t come online until later into April. Given the conditions, we’ve been seeing out there, we did want to bring them on a little early. Having said all this, I think the conditions we were seeing on Monday… that was a force of nature,” explains Fire Information Officer Kevin Skrepnek.

This year the province is allocating $63 million for this year’s firefighting budget, but that amount went up in smoke last year when crews spent nearly $280 million.

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