Fire Danger Rises With Hot Spell
Saturday, July 20, 2013 @ 4:17 AM
Prince George, B.C. – Officials with the Wildfire Management Branch are urging people venturing into the back country to take precautions to avoid starting fires in the bush.
Fire Information Officer Dustin Eno says the severity of the fire danger in the Prince George Fire Centre is split by the Rocky Mountain Range. “Areas west of the Rockies are expecting continued warm, dry conditions through the weekend and we’re expecting the fire danger rating to continue to increase. At the moment it’s moderate to high. By the end of the weekend it could be high to extreme. On the east side of the Rockies there’s a forecast for precipitation and cooler conditions, so we actually expect the fire danger there to decrease.” Southwest portions of the region remain dry and warm.
There is no lightning in the short-term forecast for the southwestern portions of the P.G. Fire Centre, so new fires would likely be caused by careless humans and as such would be preventable. Eno notes that forest and grassland fuels will be quite dry and prone to easily catching fire in the Mackenzie, Prince George, Vanderhoof and Robson Valley fire zones. He says any heat source can start a fire, including cigarette butts, exhaust from machinery or a spark from a hand tool. "So we’re just asking people to be extra cautious when they’re in the back country."
Eno says there are no major fires burning in the Fire Centre. “We have one modified response fire up to the west of the Liard River, however there is little to no activity on that fire.” That fire is estimated at just over one thousand hectares.
Comments
Comments for this article are closed.