Prince George, B.C. –  The cool wet weather has helped reduce the number of wildfires in B.C. as there are now 250 active fires in the province, but 22 fires were started  yesterday, all by lightning.

BC Wildfire Branch Information Officer Navi Saini  says  as of 1 p.m. today  there have been  four new fires reported, again,   all sparked by lightning.

She says the initial attack crews have been having success on most of the new  fires, knocking them down  before flames are able to spread  beyond  one hectare in size “But given the  shear  level of volume of lightning  activity and the  volatile conditions in terms of hot and dry weather, dry forests and fields,  some fires   have grown beyond the initial attack  response.  Most  significantly are the interface  fires in the Kamloops Fire Centre.”

One is the Westside Road fire on the west side of Okanagan Lake.  That fire has  forced the  evacuation of 70 homes,  and is estimated to be  about 460 hectares in size.   First spotted on Sunday, crews have not been able to  establish any containment of this fire.

There is also  the Coldstream Creek fire, south east of Ashcroft.  That fire is estimated to be 250 hectares in size, and 24 properties are under an evacuation alert.

There are 24 properties under evacuation alert  in the Falkland area, due to the Bolean Lake fire. An evacuation order has been issued for the Bolean Lake Resort.

In the Cariboo Fire Centre,  an evacuation order remains in place for some  residents  in the Puntzi Lake area.  That fire is now 67% contained.

Saini says fire suppression costs yesterday were in the $4.7 million dollar range bringing the total since April 1st of this year to $145 million.