Compared to recent years, B.C. has had a fortunate wildfire season but several days of intense heat could turn that trend around, provincial officials warned in a Tuesday press conference.
Setting the scene, B.C.'s Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar said that there have been 623 wildfires sparked this year, which is a fraction of the number of previous years. In 2024, there were 1,059 wildfires, or 70 per cent more, started by July 28. At this time in 2023, there had been 1,522 wildfires, or 144 per cent more than this year.
"While B.C. has been fortunate so far with fewer fires and less devastation, we know that this can change in an instant," he said.
Cliff Chapman of the BC Wildfire Service said the heat wave that's prompted a series of temperature warnings across the Southern Interior is going to challenge fire suppression efforts.
"There is still underlying drought within the fuels in B.C., meaning the trees and the grasses," Chapman said, adding that could be a challenge in the next 72 hours.
That said, he's confident about the resources positioned across B.C., both at BC Wildfire and with partner groups like city, rural and First Nation fire departments.
"We feel confident that anything that starts in the next few days, we have the resources to respond to it," Chapman said.
"The weather is concerning. Fortunately, it's the end of July, and it's not the end of June or the end of May. "
Moving into August, Chapman pointed out that the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting longer and the relative humidity starts to climb up sooner in the day.
"Suppression tactics have a better chance of success as we get closer to ... August, and then obviously, as we enter into September," Chapman said.
"So it's concerning for the short term, long term outlook is still, as the Minister of Forests mentioned in his opening, we have still had a below average fire season."
