Prince George, B.C.- “Yesterday was a good day” says BC Wildfire Service Chief Information Officer Kevin Skrepnek.

There were just 12 new fires started in  B.C.,  a far cry from the more than a hundred that were sparked in one day  last week.

Right now there are 183 fires  burning in  the Province,  and Skrepnek says while there  is  still  a chance of  lightning,  it is expected to be accompanied by rain  so   that should diminish the chance of new fires being triggered.

So far this fire season has seen flames  rage across 78 thousand hectares,  which is nearly double what was reported yesterday, but  that’s not to say  the fires have grown,  it is a reflection of  more accurate  mapping of the fires.

Here is the situation today:

Prince George Fire Centre

• Sutherland  Road: 1,800 hectares.  There is an evacuation alert  in effect,  and there is an area restriction order  in place ( see previous story)
• Grizzly Lake : 250 hectares,  and the BC Wildfire Service  expects it may  be  fully contained by the end of today.  There is an evacuation alert in place
• Big Bend Creek :  1,900 hectares,  again, there is an evacuation alert  in place

Cariboo Fire Centre:

• Green Mountain:  520 hectares
• Alexandria:  120 hectares
• Gustofsen:   5,000 hectares
• Wildwood ( Williams Lake )  2,500 hectares
• 150 Mile  – 2,600 hectares
• Hanceville ( Chilcotin ) – 10,000 hectares
• Ashcroft:   10,304 hectares

Although there have been fire fighting resources arriving in B.C. to assist and to relieve those who have already  been  battling the blazes, Skrepnek  says  this could be one  long hot summer “Crews are in pretty good shape right now,  but we are only  sitting at  July 12th  right now.  If we continue at this pace,  we could  certainly be in for a long summer,  we are quite cognizant of that in terms of  how we are managing the crews fatigue and the fatigue of  the folks at our  coordination centres as well.”

Initially 300  firefighters and support crews have arrived to relieve  B.C. crews,  ” I expect   over the coming days and weeks we are going to have additional  folks arriving from elsewhere in Canada”  says Skrepnek “If we are going to be sustaining this level of  activity for the rest of the summer,  we are going to need to pace ourselves.”