B.C.’s wildfire season ramps up: Major highway closed, heavy smoke blankets areas

Wildfire season has ramped up in B.C. with about 150 wildfires burning across the province.

The Mine Creek fire, burning north of Hope, is now mapped at 1,900 hectares and has forced the closure of the Coquihalla Highway between Hope and Merritt.

“There’s definitely been an uptick over the last week period. I would say we were in a period of about 10 days of dry, drought-like conditions,” Aydan Coray with the BC Wildfire Service said.

“So following that through the weekend, we had a lightning event across the province with about 6,000 strikes. Obviously, that’s a significant amount of activity on the landscape. So for September, not unheard of, but definitely an increase over the last period here.”

Much of B.C. is under a blanket of smoke and Environment Canada has issued air quality alerts for dozens of areas of B.C.

The worst areas of the province, as of Thursday morning, are the Squamish area and the Williams Lake area, both mapped at a 6 on the Air Quality Health Index.

Metro Vancouver and the eastern Fraser Valley are mapped at a 5 as of Thursday morning.

A 5 and a 6 indicate moderate risk for seniors, young children and those with underlying health conditions.

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However, at a Wednesday briefing, B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said conditions were expected to worsen, with much of southern B.C. to be affected in the days to come.

“We should expect to see wildfire smoke come south in the days ahead. Weather forecasters are saying that the smoke is going to be a major factor in the next 24 to 72 hours,” Parmar said.

“There are already reports of smoke hitting communities. We do expect more smoke to arrive in the central and southern Interior tonight or tomorrow, and reach Abbotsford and the coast by Friday.”

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