Drought, heat and lightning have spurred late-season wildfire activity in British Columbia, with the forests minister saying the risk of new starts and growth remains a "serious issue" and there is no relief in the short-term forecast.
Ravi Parmar said the heat is expected to persist through the weekend, with temperatures reaching 10 C above seasonal in some areas.
There is no significant rain in the forecast for the coming days, and another bout of lightning strikes is expected along B.C.'s coast later this week, he said.
"I cannot stress enough how vigilant people need to be at this time," the minister told a wildfire-related news briefing on Wednesday.
There are about 150 active wildfires across B.C., with close to 60 classified as burning out of control.
Parmar said everyone must do their part to prevent new fire starts, including abiding by regional campfire and open burning prohibitions.
"Let me be clear: the risk of new wildfire starts and week-over-week growth remains a serious issue for much of the province, and the immediate weather forecast will continue to create challenging wildfire conditions," he said.
Campfires remain banned in the Cariboo and Kamloops fire centres along with much of the coastal region, excluding Haida Gwaii and part of the central coast.
Cliff Chapman, the director of provincial operations for the BC Wildfire Service, said the first few days of September have brought conditions that look more like those typical for August, with forest fuels highly susceptible to ignition.
"We still do have the benefit of shorter days as we enter into September, so that's the one thing that is helping us get on and get after these fires as they pop up," he noted.
Chapman said most of the blazes in B.C. so far this year have been smaller compared with the massive fires spanning tens of thousands of hectares the province has seen in major fire seasons, such as 2017 and 2023.
Still, he said people across B.C. should be prepared and monitor the wildfire situation in the region, as conditions can change rapidly.
"We have seen this week that the fire behaviour that we are experiencing is really showing up in a dangerous way, and fires do have the ability to make some fairly large runs right now with the conditions that we face in B.C.," Chapman said.
"So until we get measurable rain, these are the conditions that we will be in."
The update came as smoke from fires in B.C., the Northwest Territories and Yukon descended across Western Canada, prompting widespread air-quality advisories.
But a provincial situation report from the BC Wildfire Service said the smoke itself could help the fire fight as it acts like cloud cover, raising humidity levels, blocking sunlight during the day and allowing the air to cool down at night.
The province saw a sharp spike in wildfire activity after thousands of lightning strikes over several days at the end of August.
The BC Wildfire Service map shows clusters of out-of-control blazes in the coastal fire centre and western parts of the Cariboo region.
One of those fires, a 78-square-kilometre blaze northeast of Bella Coola, prompted the Cariboo Regional District and Ulkatcho First Nation to issue an evacuation order Tuesday for 150 parcels of land spanning nearly 87 square kilometres.
Additional areas have been placed under evacuation alert due to the same fire and several others in the region.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2025.
Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press
