‘delayed start’ for the fire season
Tim Petruk – June 26, 2022 / 04:00 | History: 372936
Photo: contributed
The cool spring in British Columbia has delayed the start of the fire season in the province, according to the head of the British Columbia Forest Fire Service.
“We’re seeing a kind of delay in the start of what would normally be the start of the fire season in the first week of July,” Brent Martin, BCWS deputy director, said at a news conference Friday.
“We have not yet reached the conditions that favor a serious fire when we begin to enter at the beginning of this particular period of time.”
Martin said there are some areas of concern in Okanagan and Cariboo, but nothing “abnormally dry.”
He said he hopes longer days and higher temperatures will see the hazard rating rise in the coming weeks.
“We are anticipating that we will begin to see a kind of slow escalation and accumulation of hazards and an overall increase in fire activity as we move forward in July and August, as expected,” Martin said.
To date, the BC Wildfire Service has recorded 167 forest fires in the province, well below the 10-year average of 319 for that time.