Relief nowhere in sight as B.C. towns feel effects of wildfires raging nearby
Josh Lockhart went out to water his lawn on Thursday afternoon and noticed white flakes landing softly on his car.
After a moment of confusion, he realized the flakes were ashes from wildfires burning at hundreds of locations throughout B.C., including near the resort town of Kimberley, where Mr. Lockhart and other residents have been on evacuation alert since Thursday night.
Mr. Lockhart and his family are living in a state of in-between: bags packed and ready to flee while carrying on with work, errands and social lives.
He has filled the family vehicle with gas and made other preparations so that he, his wife, their three children and the family pets – a dog and a bird – are ready to leave if the fire gets worse.
“People are trying to live their lives as usual,” Mr. Lockhart said in a telephone interview on Friday afternoon. “You just have to be ready for anything at any moment.”
Mr. Lockhart and his family are among thousands of B.C. residents under evacuation orders or alerts as a result of fires that prompted the province to declare a state of emergency last week. And with hot, dry weather in the forecast, relief is not on the horizon.
“Given how dry it is already, and given that we have a lot of fire on the landscape right now, particularly in the central part of the province, particularly in that Smithers to Prince George corridor, any nudge from the wind is going to cause those fires to grow," chief fire information officer Kevin Skrepnek said on Friday in a conference call.
Mr. Skrepnek said 556 fires are burning across the province, 50 of them “of note,” which means they are a potential threat to public safely.
Wind and lightning in parts of B.C. are helping to fuel the fires.
Heading into the weekend, the weather remains warm and “just bone dry," Mr. Skrepnek said. "Any chance of rain is simply not on the horizon.”
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/can...as-bc-towns-feel-effects-of-wildfires-raging/
Josh Lockhart went out to water his lawn on Thursday afternoon and noticed white flakes landing softly on his car.
After a moment of confusion, he realized the flakes were ashes from wildfires burning at hundreds of locations throughout B.C., including near the resort town of Kimberley, where Mr. Lockhart and other residents have been on evacuation alert since Thursday night.
Mr. Lockhart and his family are living in a state of in-between: bags packed and ready to flee while carrying on with work, errands and social lives.
He has filled the family vehicle with gas and made other preparations so that he, his wife, their three children and the family pets – a dog and a bird – are ready to leave if the fire gets worse.
“People are trying to live their lives as usual,” Mr. Lockhart said in a telephone interview on Friday afternoon. “You just have to be ready for anything at any moment.”
Mr. Lockhart and his family are among thousands of B.C. residents under evacuation orders or alerts as a result of fires that prompted the province to declare a state of emergency last week. And with hot, dry weather in the forecast, relief is not on the horizon.
“Given how dry it is already, and given that we have a lot of fire on the landscape right now, particularly in the central part of the province, particularly in that Smithers to Prince George corridor, any nudge from the wind is going to cause those fires to grow," chief fire information officer Kevin Skrepnek said on Friday in a conference call.
Mr. Skrepnek said 556 fires are burning across the province, 50 of them “of note,” which means they are a potential threat to public safely.
Wind and lightning in parts of B.C. are helping to fuel the fires.
Heading into the weekend, the weather remains warm and “just bone dry," Mr. Skrepnek said. "Any chance of rain is simply not on the horizon.”
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/can...as-bc-towns-feel-effects-of-wildfires-raging/