B.C. wildfire situation improving but officials warns things could change quickly

Initial attack crews key to B.C. wildfire fight Small crews are the first deployed when a new wildfire is detected, knocking down the flames before they threaten communities.

At the peak of wildfire activity over the past couple of weeks, more than 5,000 British Columbians found themselves under evacuation order or alert, but as of Tuesday just 55 properties remain under order.

"Between the cooler weather we are seeing in some parts of the province right now and the decrease in evacuation orders, I would love to say this is a sign we are winding down the wildfire season, but it is not,” said Emergency Preparedness Minister Bowinn Ma, who cautioned unstable weather could cause the situation to change rapidly.

In the past week alone, B.C. has recorded 7,500 lightning strikes, which have ignited 256 fires.

The BC Wildfire Service says four-person initial attack crews are frequently the first firefighters on scene to assess new fires and try to bring them under control before they can threaten communities.

The teams can be fully self-sustainable for 24 hours or more, but do have the ability to call in air support from planes and helicopters, as well as heavy-equipment to help build fire guards.

Cliff Chapman, director of operations with BCWS, said multiple initial attack crews can also be assigned to the same fire if necessary.

"It happens very quickly. Our crews are very well trained and they have a lot of experience, given the last number of years, attacking these new starts and they get on them extremely aggressively,” Chapman said.

BCWS said crews have already managed to contain 80 per cent of the lightning-caused fires started in the last week – but they expect more to be discovered in the days ahead because new starts can smoulder in the underbrush before becoming detectable.

"It can smoulder for days depending on the underlying drought conditions of our fuels,” Chapman said. “And as we've been speaking about all summer, our drought levels in our fuels is quite high."

Chapman said there have been fewer fires to this point of the season when compared to 2023, and they’ve generally been smaller, however it’s only mid-August and there is more lightning in the forecast.