Vast areas of B.C. at high or extreme fire risk

All but small corners of British Columbia were listed at high to extreme risk of wildfires as continuing hot, dry and windy conditions fuel more than 300 blazes that were burning Thursday in most regions of the province.

Evacuation orders affecting more than 1,400 properties were posted for 10 of the 26 fires listed by the BC Wildfire Service as potentially threatening or highly visible by mid-morning.

Most of the orders covered huge areas of the central Interior, but residents of 45 properties in the Okanagan, west of Peachland, were ordered out before dawn as the Regional District of Okanagan-similkameen said a new fire threatened safety.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said in a statement the province is deploying all the necessary personnel and equipment to battle the fires, adding that the Canadian Armed Forces used aircraft to help some residents flee their homes, but he did not specify from which fire.

A wildfire in the Okanagan region, which had since grown to 250 hectares in size, is one of at least 19 sparked overnight Wednesday, adding to fires elsewhere in the province that closed sections of Highways 1 and 20. Highway 97 was reopened earlier Thursday, but officials said it could close at a moment's notice.

Those fires also prompted an evacuation alert for the entire community of 100 Mile House, menaced by an 87-square-kilometre blaze that broke out last week, while alerts also covered the villages of Ashcroft, Cache Creek and Savona as a nearly eight-squarekilometre fire reported Monday remained uncontrolled.

Mitch Campsall, the mayor of 100 Mile House, said residents are using lessons learned from a 2017 wildfire that forced evacuations in the effort against the latest blaze.

“People have got their to-go bag ready to go. They're ready to go at the drop of the hat,” he said in an interview.

Volunteer firefighters have also learned different tactics and trained on different equipment to fight fires as a result of what happened in 2017, Campsall added.

The region has faced several moments of adversity in the past few years, including wildfires and a mill shutdown, Campsall said.

“We've got fires all around us, we've got evacuations all around us, but as this community does so well, we're all working together and we're all helping each other,” he said.

But Campsall said he's worried about what happens as the summer goes on.

“We've just barely got into the fire season, what's coming up next? What's the next issue?” he said.

Erin Bull, a fire information officer with the BC Wildfire Service, said some progress had been made against the Canim Lake fire, burning just north of 100 Mile House, but residents were in a tough situation.

“It's very difficult for people to have to leave their homes, especially in a tactical evacuation when it's at a moment's notice,” she said.

More than 40 firefighters, along with structural protection teams, have been battling the blaze, while aircrews were working against the Flat Lake fire to the south. The head of the Flat Lake fire was roughly a kilometre wide and largely inaccessible to ground crews, Bull said.

More than 1,760 square kilometres of land has burned in B.C. since the wildfire season began April 1, and Environment Canada shows no end in sight for drought-like conditions, although forecasters say the central Cariboo could see a trace of rain by the weekend.

In an effort to help limit the spread of fires, Farnworth urged residents in areas threatened by wildfires to properly prepare their properties, such as by trimming trees and clearing gutters.