Photo: contributed
UPDATE: 12:09 p.m.
None of the six small forest fires believed to have been caused by lightning on Sunday night threaten any structure.
Each of them, four near Merritt and two in the Kamloops area, is less than a hectare in size.
The four fires near Merritt are on Edgar Creek, Cummings Road, Petey Creek Road and Spius Creek. The initial attack crews have been deployed to all but Spius Creek, and a helicopter is assisting the crews at Edgar Creek.
The two fires near Kamloops are in Knouff Creek and Frederick Landing. The Knouff Creek fire was attacked Sunday night and is now under control, while the Frederick Landing fire has a first attack crew on the site.
ORIGINAL STORY: 9:52 h
Half a dozen new fires broke out at the Kamloops fire station overnight as storms thundered through much of the region.
“We have detected six new forest fires since yesterday evening that may be the result of lightning that passed through the Kamloops fire station,” Fire Information Officer Taylor MacDonald told Castanet.
Only two of the fires appear so far in BC forest fire service mapping: one near Lake Knouff and another on the north shore of Lake Kamloops, both believed to be of local size.
Castanet has asked for more information on the other four new forest fires.
MacDonald said fires caused by lightning sometimes take days or even weeks to notice.
“In humid conditions, lightning can cause ignition, but not immediately turn into a fire, but in the heat it can simmer underground for several days or even weeks, and then as the weather s ‘it dries and heats up, they can ignite to the point of being filled.-forest fires,” he said.
“These are called waste fires, and that’s why we continue to monitor areas after a lightning system has detected them.”
MacDonald said members of the public have an important role to play in reporting lightning strikes.
“After lightning moves through an area, the local fire center can patrol the area to look for any signs of a forest fire,” he said.
“The public is also a very valuable resource for reporting forest fires, and they often help report lightning during periods of heat / drought and resulting fires.”
The Kamloops Fire Center covers a wide area spanning from the Cariboo Mountains in the north to the U.S. border in the south.