Wildfire, campfire conditions in B.C. better, for now

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Campers planning to head into the B.C. woods over the next few weeks, might be able to cozy up to a nice warm campfire. British Columbia wildfire conditions are pretty good, at least for now, according to the wildfire service.

There are no provincial campfire bans as of Tuesday, but local bans vary per region and municipality.

The weather has played nice over the past couple of weeks, according to BC Wildfire information officer Erika Berg, but she cautions it is still too early in the season to say the province is in the clear.

“We’re doing pretty well, things are cooling off rather well in the evenings,” she said. “We’re receiving scattered showers that are kind of moving around the province.”

Even with monitoring equipment, Berg says it can be tricky to predict the weather for the rest of the summer, so fire bans are still possible.

“We were a little bit busier last year – I think at least a hundred more starts at this time of year. But, it is rather dynamic. Whether we’ll have an intense lightning event, we’ll have to look ahead and plan accordingly.”

The 2018 wildfire season was one of the worst ever recorded in B.C. and a campfire ban wasn’t called until Jul 17.

“We were a little bit busier last year. I think at least 100 more starts at this time of the year, but it is rather dynamic. So whether we’ll have an intense lightning event, we’ll have to look ahead an prepared accordingly.” she said.

As of Jul 1, there have been 433 wildfires across the province and a total of 11,287 hectares burned, or a little smaller than the City of Vancouver.

Campers are encouraged to be aware of local conditions, including how dry a particular campsite is and weather conditions including wind.

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