Prince George, B.C. –  There are now 140 fires burning in B.C,   4 of which were new fires  that were sparked yesterday.

“Certainly  welcome  news”  says Chief Fire Information Officer Kevin Skrepnek,  who adds there are  still 27 fires of note in the province,  15 of them  are interface fires  and the activity around Williams Lake  continues..

The Wildwood fire is estimated to be 13,215 hectares  and is 20% contained.  Skrepnek  says  crews continue to create a guard around that fire.   The White Lake  fire,  which  cut off  access on Highway 97 north  is smaller than previously  reported,   as  crews were able to do more accurate mapping.  It is now estimated to be 8107 hectares,  and 10% contained.

There is no indication of when the Williams Lake residents may be able to return home.  “The wildfire  situation is one portion of the consideration that a local government  has to make when they put an ( evacuation) order in place” says Skrepnek “There are issues around utilities,  issues around infrastructure   around  getting that city  prepared to return to some semblance of   normal, that all takes time.  It’s  not  just a matter of  when the fire situation calms down, and for that matter, we are  still  having active  fires in  almost all directions  around Williams Lake,  so  at this point, I can’t offer a time line on it, and it’s going to  depend on a lot of those factors I just mentioned on when  people can expect re-entry.”

The Gustafsen fire is  estimated 5700 hectares,  and 45 % contained.

The Hanceville  fire is  estimated at 125,000 hectares  and is  0% contained, however,  Skrepnek says there has been progress on building some fire guards.

Elephant Hill ( previously known as the Ashcroft  fire)  is estimated at 52,600 hectares and is  30% contained.

Skrepnek says  the weather  has  been  “calm” for the past couple of days, “relative to what we have been experiencing over the past few weeks.  Unfortunately there is still a risk of thunderstorms across many parts of southern B.C.  there  will be some gusty winds with those storms and any lightning that results  from  the storm, obviously, a key concern for us.”

The forecast  is calling for rain  in  a number of  areas in southern B.C.  tomorrow “We certainly hope that rain does materialize” says Skrepnek “But having said that, it looks like it’s going to be a very brief event.  Beyond tomorrow,  a return to more hot and dry.”.  He says the rain tomorrow “Might be a very temporary reprieve.”

Since April 1st of this year,  there have been  674 fires in B.C.,  which have consumed an estimated 353 thousand hectares.