Prince George, B.C. – “For many parts of the province,  we do not expect anymore rain in the forecast” says BC Wildfire Service Chief Information Officer, Kevin Skrepnek.

The rain that  arrived on the weekend,  wasn’t  much help  in battling the  flames that are ravaging  the Cariboo.

“By no means did the rain we had over the past 48 hours do much in terms of  really putting a dent in  this (wildfire) season” says Skrepnek.  “It is still exceptionally dry out there , especially in the deeper  layers of the forest floor and certainly the forecast,  in  that we are not seeing any significant,  if rain at all,  we are likely going to see conditions  rebound pretty quickly here.”

The  gusty winds on the  weekend,   saw both the Hanceville  and Elephant Hill fires  see significant growth.

The Hanceville fire is now estimated to be 193,894 hectares,   while the Elephant Hill fire grew to  168 thousand hectares.  For the sake of comparison, the combined  size of those two fires, is larger than the  size of Greater Vancouver.

There are 162 fires burning in B.C., 15 of which were sparked yesterday.  So far,  the cost to battle the fires has topped $292 million.

There are still  41  areas that are under evacuation order  and 39 areas under evacuation alert.