Prince George, B.C.-Although  the number of new fire starts in B.C.  have been sparked by lightning,  the BC Wildfire Service is expressing  concern  the public may become complacent and not be as vigilant  in efforts to prevent  new human caused fires.“We definitely are concerned that people are going to start getting complacent” says BC Wildfire Service Chief Information Officer Kevin Skrepnek. “It is only early August,  and this is typically our busiest period for fire activity.”

Skrepnek says   the hot dry weather conditions are expected to continue  and  while a  low front may be heading  to the  province  next week, it will likely bring with it more windy conditions  and  lightning “Given that forecast, in all likelihood  our situation is  going to be getting worse before it gets any better.”

He says  it is heartening that there hasn’t been a spike in human caused fires “Given just hot and dry  it is out there,  fires can start quite easily,  so I think in general the public is getting the message around  preventing fires.”

But with Evacuation orders being  downgraded to  alerts,  and many  folks being allowed to return home, Skrepnek says the concern is people may not think the threat is as  looming as it really is.  “We are  still getting reports of irresponsible  activity and certainly we  are still having  human caused fires ( 2 in the Cariboo  region yesterday)  and when things are this volatile, one preventable fire  is one too many.”

Off road vehicles remain banned  from the back country in the Cariboo and Kamloops Fire Centres,   and  campfires  and burning bans remain banned through  nearly all of B.C. with the exception  of  Haida Gwaii and the fog zone on Vancouver Island.