Unusually Wet Summer in North – Central British Columbia Helps to Keep Wildfire Numbers Low

An unexpectedly wet summer, to date, in the North – Central interior of British Columbia has helped to keep wildfires unusually low. To date, the Prince George Fire Centre is reporting 45 confirmed wildfires where typically they are at 200 or more at this time of the year. To date, roughly 200 hectares have burned in the Prince George Fire Centre, dramatically below the 10-year average of 65,000 hectares for this time of year. The outlook through mid-August is for more wet weather as a series of storms move through the area every 2 – 3 days. However, storms have their downside as well. The southern portion of the province has been unusually dry and hot. Lightning strikes over the past weekend resulted in ~50 small wildfires starting to burn. While these fires remain partially controlled the terrain and COVID-19 pandemic protocols are slowing firefighters’ access to the areas. With much of the firefighting activity taking place from the air.