Wildfire Service blames fires on lightning

Lightning storms that swept across B.C. are being blamed by the Wildfire Service for many of the blazes that started this week including one that threatened Kootenay Park Lodge on Wednesday.

Spokesman Ryan Turcot said more than 300 wildfires have started since Tuesday, with dozens recorded in the past few days in the Cariboo, the area hard hit by last year’s record-breaking fire season.

Unstable weather began Saturday, but there were hundreds of lightning strikes Tuesday, said Turcot. Storms were expected to continue through the week.

The lodge in Kootenay National Park, near the Alberta boundary, was one of two backcountry resorts that were evacuated in southern B.C. because of fires. The lodge in Cathedral Provincial Park, south of Princeton, was also evacuated.

Flames and heavy smoke prompted the closure of Highway 93 between Radium and the Alberta boundary through Kootenay National Park because of two wildfires that were burning in the Vermilion Valley, just off the road.

“Once they started, they were very active, fast moving and aggressive,” said Jed Cochrane, the Parks Canada incident commander on the fires.

Increased wildfire activity also led to evacuation alerts for wildfires burning east and west of Quesnel in central B.C., while an evacuation alert was expanded to cover nearly 900 properties in the Keremeos and Cawston areas.

The wildfire service listed 10 fires of note burning across five of B.C.’s six fire centres and Turcot urged extreme caution.

“We are dealing with a lot of new lightning-driven activity,” he said.

Cooler weather and some rain is in the forecast for the upcoming long weekend, but Turcot called the shift a double-edged sword.

“When you get instability, you also get a little bit more wind, and wind can drive fire activity as well.”