Government and BC Wildfire Service officials warn of a risk of increased wildfire activity this summer, after an unusually warm May made trees more susceptible to lightning strikes several weeks earlier than usual. Neal McLoughlin, the superintendent of predictive services for the BC Wildfire Service, says he’s concerned about the start of the fire season given how much land has been burned this early in the year. Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma says 382 wildfires have burned a total of five-thousand-205 square kilometres since April 1st. She says this fire season already exceeds the total number of hectares burned in 16 of the last 20 wildfire seasons and people need to be prepared for a challenging summer.
A Canadian Ranger living in Tumbler Ridge says she thinks the town is well-rehearsed in how to manage an evacuation alert as an encroaching wildfire threatens the community. Joline Couture says the smoke was heavy in town but people were remaining calm as they started evacuating. About 24-hundred people have been ordered out of the northeastern BC community because of the nearby West Kiskatinaw River fire, which grew to 96 square kilometres over two days. A BC Wildfire Service advisory says the fire near Tumbler Ridge fire was caused by lightning and continues to spread aggressively.
BC’s transportation ministry says it is temporarily closing the detour it set up after a wildfire on Vancouver Island east of Port Alberni closed Highway 4 — the key route leading to that city and the west coast of the Island. The detour — which directs traffic from Port Alberni through to Lake Cowichan via Bamfield — will be closed from 1 P-M to 9 P-M today as crews work to remove a vehicle that rolled into Francis Lake along the route. The ministry says the closure could open sooner if the vehicle is removed faster than expected. It says the main highway remains closed as the B-C Wildfire Service reports the Cameron Bluff’s blaze is now 1.8-square kilometres in size.
Favourable winds and cooler temperatures were enough to end the air quality advisory for parts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. The advisories for fine particulate matter and ground-level ozone were first issued Wednesday. Metro Vancouver says there’s potential for wildfire smoke to return and contribute to hazy conditions in parts of the region, meaning additional air quality advisories may be issued in the coming days. It says smoke concentrations may vary widely across the region as winds, temperatures, and wildfire behaviour changes.
A bus carrying elementary school students on a field trip in Chilliwack has caught fire, which spread to a nearby structure and cut power to the area before being extinguished. The City of Chilliwack says no injuries were reported and crews contained the blaze about 95 kilometres east of Vancouver. BC Hydro says power went out for nearly 25-hundred customers as a result of the fire. It says power was restored a few hours later.
Mounties in Surrey say a 52-year-old man has been charged with arson. They say two fires occurred in the northwest part of the city on May 28th, less than 12 hours apart. The RCMP say firefighters and officers received reports of a man allegedly setting fire to bushes, and police later found and arrested the suspect, who was hiding in the area. They say the man has been charged with two counts of arson and remains in custody until his next court appearance on June 13th.
Fifteen Yukon athletes have received the Premier’s Awards of Sport Excellence for their performances in 2022. The award recognizes athletes who have had success over the year at provincial, regional or national championships as well as in international competition. This year’s recipients include five cross country skiers who competed at last year’s national championships as well as Olympian Dahria (‘DAR-ia) Beatty who skied for Canada at the games in Beijing. Premier Ranj Pillai (Pi-‘LAY) says every athlete should feel a deep sense of pride in their extraordinary accomplishments last year.