It's going to be a long, hot and possibly fearsome forest-fire season, says veteran firefighter Stan Harvey."There's a low snowpack, it's really dry, and the buildup index is so high now," said Harvey, referring to the layer of flammable material on the forest floor. "I haven't seen conditions this dry, so early, in a long time."
Firefighter Colin Jack said that while he is guaranteed work from May 1 to the end of August, over the last few years that has been extended.
Twenty fire-ranger crews from Ontario were heading yesterday to Tumbler Ridge, where they will join crews from Kenora, Thunder Bay, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., who are already fighting the blaze.
The forest service said 41 new forest fires started yesterday despite cooler temperatures and rain in the northeast of B.C. That brings to 931 the number of fires so far this year, up from 510 in 2005.
Evacuation alerts were issued yesterday for Wonowon, Tsacha Lake and Anahim and Nimpo lakes due to a "very aggressive," 10,000-hectare lightning-caused fire 50 kilometres north of Anahim Lake, a 9,000-hectare aggressive fire 55 km west of Quesnel and a 16,000-hectare fire 10 km north of the Narcosli Ecological Reserve.
An 800-hectare fire 30 km south of Kamloops near the Coquihalla Highway has been stabilized, the forest service said.