B.C. wildfire starts cool in 'strange' season, but remain vigilant, say officials
Only 591 wildfires 2016 season compared to about 1300 this time last year
The number of wildfires sparked this year in B.C. is far below the number by this time last summer, but fire officials are warning people to remain vigilant — there's a hot dry stretch ahead.
"It's given us a chance to catch our breath, catch up on training, on project work, a lot of things we could be doing outside of fire response mode," said Kevin Skrepnek, the province's chief fire information officer.
"But given the weather forecast, we're preparing, ready to be at full tilt once we see those fires pop up," he said.
Since the start of the wildfire season on April 1 until July 27 there have been 591 wildfires in B.C this year.
During that same period in 2015 more than 1300 fires were reported.
Fire danger across most of the province currently ranges from low to moderate.
The slow start to summer that some dubbed as "Juneuary" has had its benefits said Skrepnek.
"We are below average for the number of fires we've responded to this year," he said.
"We've had some unseasonably cool weather and quite a bit more rain in most parts of the province."
In April, intense wildfires sparked up unusually early in the Northeast of the province but in the last two months, he said it has been "relatively quiet" making it a "strange" fire season.
In his memory 2011 was the last year he recalls such a quiet fire season with only 653 counted by fire season's end in the fall.
Fire safety
Despite the calm, he's warning the public not to become complacent — particularly as the mercury rises.
"We are seeing much more seasonal conditions ... and looking at the forecast we expect that's going to continue for the foreseeable future."
Heading into the long weekend, when more people are expected to be out in the backcountry, he's reminding campers of fire safety guidelines.
Campfires are allowed across the province as of right now but he says it must be kept small — a half-metre by half-metre.
He says users should ensure it is always contained, supervised and fully extinguished before leaving a site.
The majority of the wildfires from this year have been human-caused but Skrepnek says that ratio is expected to tip as August tends to bring more lightning strikes.