Prince George, B.C. -   The Prince George Fire Center states that fires are up from last year. 

 

Provincial forest fire fighters have responded to 329 fires throughout the province since April 1. Of those, 96 fires were in the Prince George Fire Centre. Locally crews have responded to two fires in the last week. Both were caused by human activity.

 

Jillian Chimko, Fire Information Officer states that these numbers are up from last year which can be mostly be attributed to lightning . “We had 282 fires in the Province last year at this time and 63 locally. While human caused fires remain the same, 28 more were due to lightning. This just goes to show how much weather really does have an effect on us so people really need to take precautions in what they are doing so that we can utilize our resources for weather related fires.”

 

The fire danger rating is currently moderate throughout most of the fire centre with areas of high in western and northern areas and low in the southeast. Rain and cool temperature are forecasted for today and tomorrow but a dry and cooler weekend is expected.

 

If you are planning to do any yard clean-up and burning, check first with your local fire department, municipality, or regional district to find out if there are any open burning bylaws in effect pertaining to open burning. When burning choose an appropriate site and keep all necessary tools on hand to be safe.