Crews fighting wildfires in B.C. aided by cooler and unseasonably low temperatures

VANCOUVER – The BC Wildfire Service says cooler and below seasonal average temperatures have helped crews fight the blazes.

Fire information officer Taylor Colman says crews are seeing between three and five fires start each day compared with about 40 in July.

She says most of the wildfires of note – including White Rock Lake at about 810 square kilometres and Lytton Creek at 845 square kilometres – have not seen much growth.

The service says it has recorded more than 1,540 wildfires since the start of the season and there are about 250 blazes burning in B.C.

It says more than 3,400 fire crews from B.C. and about 550 out-of-province firefighters are helping fight the flames, with nearly 170 helicopters and planes supporting them.

The service says there are more than 60 evacuation orders in place and nearly 120 evacuation alerts, which means that people must be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

Feature image: A pyrocumulus cloud, also known as a fire cloud, produced by the Lytton Creek wildfire rises into the sky from the fire burning in the mountains above Lytton, B.C., on Sunday, August 15, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck