BC’s 2017 Fire Season 2nd Worst on Record
Prince George, B.C. -The wildfire season in British Columbia is far from over, and is already the second worst in nearly 60 years.
So far, the 954 fires in the province since April 1st of this year, have consumed 621 thousand hectares. In terms of hectares burned, only the fires in 1958 were more destructive, consuming 855 thousand hectares.
However, there is still plenty of fire season left in 2017 and Wildfire Chief Information Officer Kevin Skrepnek warns there are difficult days ahead “Saturday is when we start to see a bit of a shift, we are going to see rain on the Coast, scattered, isolated showers in the Interior starting Saturday night with this shift though, we are going to see increased winds and of course the potential for more lightning. That could make the situation worse before that rain arrives.”
He says the predicted rain is looking “rather scattered right now, Sunday is when we will start to see precipitation fairly wide spread” he says there is a potential for more thunderstorms, “There are areas right now where it looks like the rain will not reach it at all.”
He says at this point the rain is forecast to end by early next week but cooler temperatures and gusty winds will remain.
So far, the cost to the BC Wildfire Service to battle the fires this year, has hit $264.3 million dollars.
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