More B.C. campfire bans take effect amid wildfires and heat warnings
Ban within Kamloops and Southeast fire centre areas begin Thursday morning
More campfire bans are being imposed as the fire danger rating rises along with temperatures in British Columbia.
Starting Thursday, campfires will be prohibited in the Kamloops Fire Centre, where the majority of B.C.'s wildfires are currently burning, and the Southeast Fire Centre. A ban was imposed in the Coastal Fire Centre last week.
The Ministry of Forests has also limited burning on Haida Gwaii to small fires no more than half a metre high, as the archipelago experiences uncommonly dry conditions.
Together, the Kamloops and Southeast fire centres cover the area from Blue River in the north to the U.S. border in the south, and from Bridge River in the west to the Alberta border in the east, and includes the Okanagan Valley, Kamloops, Lytton, Lillooet, Wells Gray Provincial Park, the Boundary region and the Kootenays.
Heat warnings across the province
The latest bans come as Environment Canada heat warnings cover several areas of the province, including the northeastern corner of the province, inland sections of the north and central coasts, the Fraser Canyon and entire inner South Coast, including much of Vancouver Island, Victoria, Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
Temperatures in parts of the Fraser Canyon have the potential to nudge 40 C by the end of the week, and could climb to the low or mid 30s in other areas. That high pressure ridge is also trapping muggy air and wildfire smoke in many regions.
In the Okanagan Valley, where several lightning-caused fires have been burning for a week, evacuation orders have been lifted and the emergency support centre in West Kelowna has closed.
But the Central Okanagan Regional District says there are still almost 700 properties on evacuation alert, meaning residents should be ready to leave at a moment's notice.
Calmer conditions have helped crews make progress on several fires in the region, including the nearly 18-square kilometre Mount Eneas wildfire between Peachland and Summerland.
The latest smoky fire is the Beards Creek blaze, 34 kilometres southeast of Golden. The blaze is small and isn't threatening any properties but it's highly visible from highways 1 and 95, and is proving challenging to battle because it is burning in steep terrain that is too dangerous for crews to reach.