Dozens of fires burn B.C. forests

Firefighters continue to battle dozens of forest fires across British Columbia, making progress extinguishing some with the help of the weather and losing ground to others.

Many of the fires were sparked by a series of electrical storms earlier this week associated with a heat wave blanketing the province. The fire danger rating remains at high or extreme for much of B.C., except the southeastern corner of the province. There, recent rain and cooler temperatures have lowered the risk of wildfires from moderate to very low.

On the northwest shore of Okanagan Lake, the Terrace Mountain fire, which has kept more than 1,000 people out of their homes, is now 80 per cent contained, but the evacuation order remains in place as of Wednesday morning.

Local weather conditions have played a key role in fighting the blaze after both the temperatures and the wind dropped in recent days, said fire information officer Isabelle Jacques.

Meanwhile, the Mount McLean wildfire near Lillooet in the southwestern Interior has grown to 15-square kilometres and destroyed one structure. Fire officials expanded a previous evacuation order to include scattered properties along northeastern Seton Lake and placed the communities of Seton Portage and Shalath on evacuation alert.

Officials at the Coastal Fire Centre on Vancouver Island say a fire burning on a steep mountainside in Strathcona Park could be among the most difficult in the province to fight, even though it is not that large.

Fire crews have had to contend with burning logs rolling down from above, but a week after it started, the park fire, which is near Wolf River west of Buttle Lake, is less than nine hectares in size and only 10 per cent contained.

Northwest of Salmon Arm, the Sunnybrae-Tappen wildfire is now completely contained, and the evacuation alert was lifted on Tuesday.

Near the B.C.-Alberta border, a wildfire burning just outside of Valemount, has grown to 350 hectares and is not contained, but it is not endangering any homes.

Another wildfire in the northern Interior near Kispiox, northwest of Prince George, has grown dramatically over the past two days and now covers nearly one-square kilometre but is not threatening any homes, officials with the Northwest Fire Centre said.