Be careful with campfires this long weekend!
Posted May 17, 2013 7:09 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The dry weather we’ve recently had has triggered a warning about wildfires for any of you going camping this May long weekend.
The warning is coming a little earlier than usual, as the tinder dry conditions crews are seeing right now don’t typically hit until July or August.
Fire Prevention Officer Allison Couch says there have been a lot more fires this year compared to last. “That’s mainly because of the hot, dry conditions that we saw last week and it really was quite unseasonable.”
“If you start to get the winds coupled with the hot weather, then we will definitely see some fire activity,” she adds.
Couch tells us the uptick in blazes so far this year is not being blamed on the weather. “We haven’t seen much in the way of lightning activity, so that means the majority of the fires we’re seeing, if not all of them, have been caused by people and that means they are preventable.”
“It is a concern for us. We don’t want to see any fire activity at this time of year.”
Temperatures are expected to cool off a bit this weekend. But if you’re going camping, you are asked to be extra vigilant and to keep your fire pretty small. Also, make sure fires are completely out before you leave.
There is one wildfire of note right now; it’s near Ashcroft and about 1,600 hectares in size.
