Hardly any rain in the forecast; BC fire crews urging people to use common sense
Posted August 31, 2017 7:01 am.
Last Updated August 31, 2017 7:05 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It’s good news if you’re heading to the PNE, but not so great for everyone hoping for an early end to BC’s worst fire season on record. There’s hardly any rain in the forecast heading into — and even after — the Labour Day long weekend.
That’s why firefighters are again pleading for all restrictions, including campfire bans, to be followed.
“Given how historical this fire season has been, human-caused fires divert critical resources away from the lightning-caused fires,” he tells us, adding the conditions remain extremely volatile,” says Ryan Turcotte with the BC Wildfire Service.
“The areas that are of most concern — the Cariboo, the southern Interior areas — throughout the whole next seven-day period, there isn’t going to be a lot of precipitation that follows any of the weather events that happen.”
“Clearly, the message to people in the southern half of the province needs to be that we remain in a very extreme fire danger rating,” adds Robert Turner with Emergency Management BC.
He points out says more than 2,000 people remain out of their homes because of evacuation orders.
“Personal preparedness remains just as important now as it was three weeks ago and we’d be encouraging everyone to ensure that they are on top of their own personal preparedness plans because we are very much not out of this season.”
With more than three weeks of summer left, this is already the province’s worst wildfire season on record. Since April 1st, nearly $420 million has been spent fighting fires.
