Prince George, B.C. – The Prince George Fire Centre has called for extra resources to help battle 14 new fires that have been sparked by lightning.

“The fire in the Windfall Creek area, southwest of Tumbler Ridge is about 70 hectares in size” says Jillian Chimko spokesperson for the Fire Centre, “We have one fire fighting unit on scene, and one on its way. We have a couple of helicopters in the region, but they are assessing the other fires in the area.”

Some of the fires sparked by the lightning strikes are in beetle kill stands.

At this point, the fires are not threatening any homes or structures.

Chimko says she isn’t certain how difficult it will be to get extra resources as   a fire south of Lytton continues to cause problems. The blaze on Jackass Mountain was started on the weekend when a Motorhome caught on fire and the flames whipped up the hillside. Highway 1 about 25 km east of Boston Bar remains closed because of landslides.

In the  Cariboo District,  there were 21 new fires started on Canada Day, the largest of which is in the western Chilcotin within the Itcha-Ilgachuz Provincial Park. That fire is located in a remote area of the western Chilcotin Forest District and is estimated at 250 hectares. The fire has two 20-person unit crews and three helicopters currently assigned to it, along with a Type II Incident Command Team which will help to manage the fire.