Doyle Potenteau - Yesterday
© BC Wildfire ServiceAn aerial view of the Gultch Creek wildfire burning southeast of Chase, B.C., on Friday, July 2, 2021. The fire is estimated to be one hectare in size.
Twenty-six wildfires are currently burning in B.C.’s Okanagan, Shuswap, Revelstoke, Similkameen and West Kootenay regions.
Most of the wildfires are considered new, having been discovered either on July 1st or 2nd, with BC Wildfire equally portioning shares of the causes as either lightning, person or unknown.
Currently, most of the wildfires are listed as being small, with only a handful being bigger than a hectare. Notably, four fires are considered under control, while another two are considered being held.
Read more: Lytton wildfire: Preliminary reports of at least 2 deaths, coroner says
The biggest fire in the combined area is the Derickson Lake fire, burning in Graystokes Provincial Park east of Kelowna. That fire, discovered on June 29, is listed at 1,140 hectares.
Also in Graystokes Park, the Long Loch fire is now at 60 hectares after being previously listed at 100 hectares, That fire was also discovered June 29, and along with the nearby Derickson Lake fire, is considered out of control.
A third fire, the Hilda Creek fire, was listed at two hectares on Thursday, but is now considered extinguished.
On Friday, provincial fire officials said there were 136 wildfires across B.C., with most burning in the Interior, courtesy of a storm cell with lightning that tracked through the area.
The director of provincial operations for BC Wildfire, Cliff Chapman, said there were nine fires of note — a marker indicating serious fires.
Read more: ‘He chose to stay to fight the fire’: Lytton, B.C. resident says her dad saved homes
“Yesterday, we saw the storm system track in the late afternoon to the southeast of the province,” said Chapman. “And then additionally, it started to move into the Interior, around Kamloops, as the evening progressed.
“We saw 12,000 lightning strikes roughly (on Canada Day). Many of those lightning strikes were hitting near communities.”
Video: Retardant dropped on wildfire near Monte Lake, B.C.
Chapman added there were 70 new confirmed fires, "mostly focused in the Southern Cariboo, Interior and southeast of the province."
He also noted that none of those grew bigger than 100 hectares.
"Saying that, we do expect to pick up additional fires from the lightning activity yesterday," he said. "Likely to see somewhere in that same neighbourhood, 70 fires, for today and we are anticipating the potential for additional lightning."
Video: Will there be more lightning in the B.C. Interior forecast?
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