B.C. firefighters face uphill task
Firefighters in suburban Vancouver made short work of a large brush fire that closed Highway 1 east of Vancouver late Saturday afternoon.
But crews battling wildfires in the B.C. Interior are facing considerably tougher conditions, particularly in the Cariboo region, where scores of new fires have broken out in the past two days.
Highway 1 was closed for nearly eight kilometres through Langley, about 40 kilometres east of Vancouver, when flames broke out just before 5 p.m. on Saturday.
There was concern the blaze was working its way into a wooded area along the highway, but fire crews from Langley, backed by a three-person Forest Service initial attack crew, had the flames under control within two hours.
Westbound traffic was disrupted through the early evening but detours were available. The cause of the fire has not been determined.
Hot, hot, hot
Record-breaking temperatures stretched across the Lower Mainland on Saturday, toppling records that had stood since 1942. And with no end to the heat wave in sight, Dr. John Carsley with Vancouver Coastal Health says people need to make sure they're smart about the heat.
"Part of it is about sun safety and a part of it is about keeping cool," Carsley told CBC News. "I guess the keeping-cool part is really the most important and there it's very common sense and straight forward: keep in the shade, drink enough fluids."
Hot weather across the province has kept fire crews in the field for the past three weeks, but relief is on the way. Crews from Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario are arriving to help take over firefighting efforts.
The hot weather means firefighters have been facing more aggressive fires in the northern Interior, and the reinforcements are arriving just in time, fire information officer Alyson Couch told CBC News.
"Upon arrival they will be deployed where the need is greatest, so probably to the Cariboo region," Couch said. "They have been brought in to take over for some of the crews from out of province who have reached their max number of work days and need to return home."
By Sunday afternoon, about 3,300 firefighters will be hard at work, most in the Cariboo Fire District.
Currently, 262 wildfires are burning across the province, with at least 19 new fires reported overnight.
Eight homes were evacuated near the Meldrum Creek wildfire west of Williams Lake as that 102-square-kilometre blaze flared up.
The weather forecast is not encouraging, Couch said.
"We are expecting the weather to continue to be hot today, with no amount of precipitation," she said.
That means more new fires and a perfect conditions for those already burning.
So far, fires have burned more than 159,000 hectares in the province. Bans on open fires and campfires remain in effect throughout the province.