Prince George, B.C. – The BC Wildfire Service is preparing for a new rash of wildfires.

More wind,  dry conditions, and lightning all expected,  with the action  likely to start this afternoon. “We are expecting  a challenging few days ahead”  says Kevin Skrepnek, Chief Information Officer  with the BC Wildfire Service.  He says the degree of dryness on the forest floor,  is “weeks ahead of where we should be in terms of accumulated dryness”   and with  winds gusting from 30 – 40kms per hour,  it is a recipe for  more  aggressive fire behaviour and  new  flare ups .

He says the Wildfire Service is preparing for the worst “There is a high likelihood that we are going to  see a significant increase in   fire activity today.”

The scenario doesn’t  bode well for those who are waiting for word on when they can go  home to Williams Lake.

We  will be taking some (Williams Lake) City staff up on  flights later today so they can see first hand where the  activity is at” says Skrepnek “Given the weather forecast, , I think in terms of our recommendation, we are definitely going to  want to  wait and see what these fires are going to do,  how they are going to react to this weather.  That would   form  our recommendation to the local  government on  what they should be doing.”

Assistant Deputy Minister of Emergency Management B.C.  Robert Turner says the wildfire situation is far from over “It is likely going to get worse before it gets better.”

Fifteen new wildfires were sparked yesterday, bringing the total  of current fires to  152,.

• Hanceville / Riske creek  132,000 ha
• White Lake   8107 hectares
• Wildwood   12987 hectares,  ( smaller size is result of more accurate mapping)
• Elephant Hill    61,500 hectares,  30% contained,  but  winds yesterday  allowed the flames to  jump the guards  and  sparked an evacuation order    for a handful of properties north east of Clinton.