What you need to know about B.C. wildfires for Aug. 25
Cooler weather is helping but there are still signs the season isn't over
The latest on the wildfires:
- As of Wednesday morning, 8,612 square kilometres of B.C. has burned in 1,551 wildfires.
- 3,746 properties are covered by evacuation orders and another 11,351 by evacuation alerts.
- There are 249 active wildfires burning in B.C.
- Cooler temperatures continue to slow the growth of B.C.'s most concerning wildfires.
- But Tuesday still saw at least one expanded evacuation order and a new fire close to a community.
- For a full list of evacuation orders and alerts, visit Emergency Information B.C.
With less than a month left to go in the summer, cooler weather is bringing some calmer days on the B.C. wildfire front.
Officials with the B.C. Wildfire Service said Tuesday that "fall-like" conditions have slowed fire growth and allowed crews to make significant progress on some of the province most concerning fires.
By Tuesday night, the wildfire service's fire danger ratings for most of the southern half of the province were somewhere between "very low" and "moderate" — although almost all of Vancouver Island was rated "high" or "extreme" fire danger.
There have been some other cautionary signs that B.C. isn't out of the woods just yet.
The Okanagan Indian Band issued an expanded evacuation order Tuesday for dozens of properties, warning of "immediate danger to life safety" from the destructive White Rock Lake fire.
And a new wildfire was sparked uncomfortably close to West Kelowna, just three kilometres to the north. The fire led to tactical evacuations of some homes, but by the evening residents were allowed to return home and firefighters were mopping up.
READ MORE:
- The blazes that have scorched Western Canada this summer have incinerated large areas of wildlife habitat that may take many years to recover, an expert says.
- A B.C. engineering professor is warning wildfire-threatened towns could be in the path of future, damaging and deadly landslides.
- A manager for British Columbia's wildfire service says conditions are trending in the right direction.
Anyone placed under an evacuation order should leave the area immediately.
Evacuation centres have been set up throughout the province to assist anyone evacuating from a community under threat from a wildfire.
To find the centre closest to you, visit the Emergency Management B.C. website.
Evacuees are encouraged to register with Emergency Support Services online, whether or not they access services at an evacuation centre.
Do you have a story to share?
If you've been affected by the B.C. wildfires and want to share your story, email us at cbcnewsvancouver@cbc.ca.
With files from The Canadian Press and Bethany Lindsay