B.C. PRAYS FOR RAIN AS WILDFIRES RAGE
A total of 198 wildfires remained burning Wednesday in the British Columbia Interior, where 14,000 residents have been displaced from their homes and authorities remain on standby for more mass evacuations. Canadian Armed Forces aircraft and helicopters are standing by in case airlifts are necessary, but with rain in the forecast, there is hope the situation will improve.
FORECAST OFFERS HOPE
The BC Wildfire Service said it’s encouraged by forecasts showing an incoming weather system that will bring some rain — as well as lightning — to fire-ravaged sections of the central and southern Interior. The overall pattern is for continuing hot, dry conditions but the situation has calmed down from the weekend, when more than 100 fires a day were breaking out, said chief fire information officer Kevin Skrepnek. Just 12 new fires were reported Tuesday, while the number of fires burning provincewide has dropped to 198 from more than 200 on Monday, he said.
EVACUEES NUMBER 14,000
Crews took advantage of calmer conditions to make progress on fire guards near Williams Lake but 10,000 remained on evacuation alert while 14,000 others from Princeton in the south Okanagan to Quesnel remain out of their homes, the fire service reported.
FIRST NATIONS STAY PUT
While emergency officials and police are urging British Columbia residents to respect evacuation orders ahead of fast-moving wildfires, some First Nations are standing their ground, successfully protecting their homes and property. The chief of the Tl’etinqox First Nation said RCMP officers told them to leave or risk having their children taken away; instead they erected a fire boundary and prepared to fight. “We are generation after generation that continue to live in a fire zone. This is not new to us,” said Chief Joe Alphonse, whose community is about 100 kilometres west of Williams Lake. “We feel this is the safest place for our community members to be.” There are about 1,000 residents on the reserve, but Alphonse said only about 300 stayed to fight the fires.
RANCHERS FEAR FOR CATTLE
As many as 20,000 cattle have been left to fend for themselves in British Columbia’s Interior as ranchers have been ordered to leave range lands threatened by wildfires, the BC Cattleman’s Association said. Dozens of fires have been sparked in the Cariboo region since last Thursday and association general manager Kevin Boon said a number of large ranches are in the path of the flames. There’s hope the animal’s instincts will help them find a way to escape the fires because Boon said there is no way to reach the herds, transport them or even be sure of the number of cattle involved. Ranchers are bracing for the worst and deaths — particularly from smoke inhalation — are expected but Boon said there’s a good likelihood most cattle will survive.
SMOKE ADVISORIES ISSUED
Only coastal and extreme northern and northeastern corners of B.C. have escaped a pall of smoke blanketing regions that include the United States border. The Environment Ministry, in collaboration with local health authorities, has issued a smoky skies bulletin. The bulletin is circulated when smoke concentrations in an area could or have reached levels that raise health concerns, although the ministry says the amount of smoke can vary dramatically over short periods and over small distances. A small improvement in wildfire conditions early Wednesday was reflected in the Air Quality Health Index, with most regions ranked at a low to moderate health risk. The Cariboo city of Williams Lake, which is near the centre of several huge fires, was ranked at 16 on a 10-point scale, meaning the air quality poses a very high health risk, especially for people with heart or lung conditions. Poor air quality has also prompted the Alberta Health Services to issue a precautionary advisory for the Edmonton region as smoke-tainted air drifts eastward, and authorities in B.C. and Alberta say the smoky conditions won’t improve for some time.