B.C. Wildfires 2018: major lightning strike prompts several fires

A substantial number of lightning strikes across B.C. prompted a very active day in terms of new wildfire starts. 

Ryan Turcot, a fire information officer with B.C. Wildfire Service, says 57 new wildfires started on Monday.

"If you look back to last week, it was very hot and dry across the province. That really increased the fire danger risk for basically all of B.C.," Turcot said. 

Lightning was a major driver for the new fires; the Cariboo Fire Centre has had over 1,000 lightning strikes over the past 24 hours.

"A lot of these new fires that started were concentrated in northeastern B.C. and southeastern B.C., including a few more high profile visible fires that cropped up last night."

These include a new 20-hectare fire near Valemont. Turcot says the community isn't threatened, but the fire is producing a lot of smoke. 

Lisa Erven, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, says smoke from fires throughout the province is still an issue. 

"We've been under this persistent ridge of high pressure for more than a week," Erven said.  "What that does is it traps forest fire smoke near the surface of the earth, so you get the buildup of wildfire smoke concentrations throughout the Interior of B.C."

A shift in weather could bring some relief. 

"Looking ahead to this week, we're expecting to see a shift in weather in northern and central B.C. as the week goes on to perhaps cooler temperatures and a bit of precipitation," Turcot said. 

Here's how the wildfire situation looked across the province Tuesday:

Current evacuation alerts and orders: 

For the latest wildfire information, visit:

B.C. Wildfire Service
Emergency Info BC

With files from Daybreak Kamloops