A vehicle fire off of Highway 3 in British Columbia’s Okanagan triggered a large wildfire this week. With record-breaking temperatures and little rainfall since last fall, the grass adjacent to the road ignited easily, sending flames up a steep mountainside. More than 500 hectares of grassland and sparse forest were consumed before the fire was contained. It was the second aggressive wildfire in B.C. within days.
The early start to this year’s wildfire season could be a harbinger of another challenging summer for the province.
The devastating fires in the summer of 2017 were unprecedented in scale and cost. More than 1.2 million hectares burned and 65,000 people were evacuated. The province called up crews from Mexico and Australia to help battle the fires, and paid out a record-shattering $650-million in firefighting costs.
Then, last summer, things got worse. For the second year in a row, a state of emergency was declared, as wildfires blazed in almost all regions of the province. A new record was set – 1,354,284 hectares of land were consumed by fire.
Justine Hunter – Globe and Mail – May 17, 2019.
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