Lightning sparks around 200 new wildfires across B.C. as heat grips Interior | CBC News

Hundreds of lightning strikes in many parts of British Columbia almost tripled the number of active wildfires in the province over the weekend, with most burning in central and northern B.C.

The B.C. Wildfire Service is now reporting more than 300 fires, with 87 spotted in the past 24 hours alone and almost 200 of the total number ranked as out of control.

British Columbia’s Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, Bowinn Ma, is scheduled to provide an update Monday on the current wildfire and drought conditions across the province.

Ma is due to speak at 12:30 p.m. PT. CBC News will be streaming it live on our website. 

The wildfire service is bracing for challenging conditions, with lightning storms still in the forecast for most of the week, as well as heat warnings or above-average temperatures through the central Interior.

Of the 13 blazes listed as “fires of note,” all but two are located in the Prince George and Northwest fire centres, and the wildfire service says 11 have prompted at least one evacuation order, although no major communities are threatened.

Rural highways threatened

Some of the fires are threatening rural highways, including Highway 27 south of Fort St. James and Highway 77 north of Fort Nelson, while flames first spotted last Thursday near the Yukon boundary now cover 300 square kilometres close to Highway 37, but aren’t immediately affecting the link to Watson Lake and Whitehorse.

A wildfire in Yukon has roughly tripled in size since Sunday and remains out of control, charring about three square kilometres of bush in the Ibex Valley, about 30 kilometres due west of Whitehorse, south of the Alaska Highway, prompting an evacuation alert for numerous properties along the route.

B.C.’s wildfire danger was high to extreme across all but small pockets of the province on Monday.

Severe thunderstorm watch

Environment Canada posted a severe thunderstorm watch for the Fort Nelson and Peace River regions, the same area where large fires forced evacuations in July.

The weather office noted daily high temperature records were set in the province Sunday, including a high of 33 C in Fort Nelson, two degrees hotter than the previous record for that northeastern community, set 64 years ago.

Forecasters also said Nakusp in B.C.’s southeast posted a sizzling 37.2 C on Sunday, edging a record set 22 years earlier. 

While no daily highs were posted in Yukon, the territory remains under heat warnings stretching almost 500 kilometres from its boundaries with B.C. and the Northwest Territories north to Mayo.

Conditions could ease slightly in B.C. by Tuesday, but Environment Canada said cooler weather was not likely in Yukon for several more days.