More wind expected to fan flames of B.C. wildfires
WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C. Wildfire conditions in British Columbia are expected to worsen over the weekend as officials predict winds to pick up, fanning dozens of flare-ups that have forced more than 16,000 people from their homes.
Kevin Skrepnek, chief information officer with the BC Wildfire Service, said Thursday the slight reprieve in weather over the past few days will end with the arrival of a cold front that is expected to bring “significant winds” across most of the southern part of the province.
“The big weather concern at the moment is the outlook for this weekend,” he said. “Winds have been a huge factor in terms of fire activity so far over the last few weeks, so that’s definitely a cause for concern.”
About 680 blazes have consumed 1,110-square-kilometres of grass, bush, forest and in some cases neighbourhoods since the fire season began in April, Skrepnek said. There were more than 180 wildfires burning across the province on Thursday afternoon, concentrated in the central and southern Interior.
Robert Turner of Emergency Management B.C. said about 9,430 of the estimated 16,250 evacuees had registered with the Canadian Red Cross. About 1,800 families were expected to have received a $600 assistance package from the province by the end of Thursday, he added.
B.C. declared a state of emergency late last week as hundreds of wildfires broke out over the span of a couple days.
More than 3,100 people have been enlisted to fight the flames, including firefighters and support staff, nearly 400 of whom were brought from outside B.C. to help.
B.C. Premier-designate John Horgan had an aerial view of the damage during a fly-over near Williams Lake on Thursday.
He said there is no question it will take a while to clean up the devastation.
“There’s still huge, huge pockets of smoke. A couple of trees went up like Roman candles while we were there,” he said.
Horgan said any evacuees who aren’t getting the help they need should be vocal so that resources can be directed their way.
Unit crews began lighting controlled fires west of Williams Lake on Thursday, where nearly 11,000 people have been on standby since Monday to evacuate at a moment’s notice.
Mayor Walt Cobb said he feels heartened after forecasted stronger winds failed to materialize earlier this week, giving ground crews time to prepare for the worst.
“Every day that we have a reprieve, the firefighters are out there putting back-burns in, so everyday that we have without another storm is going to make it that much better for us because they’ll have some protection in place,” he said.