Summer weather arrives late in Elk Valley, South Country

The 2022 fire season has been delayed by “significantly cooler” conditions across British Columbia in May.

At the start of June, across the province 137 fires had burned about 600 hectares of land, whereas at the same time last year, 256 fires had burned well over 2,000 hectares.

“This time last year the province was on fire,” said RDEK South Country Fire Chief Michael Hockley.

“(Conditions) have delayed the fire season by about a month,” he said.

A recent warm spell across B.C. has brought summer conditions back to the fore for the province, with category 3 fire bans announced for much of the Southern Interior to come into effect on June 30. A category 3 fire ban applies to large fires, and not campfires.

Fire departments across the region will be on the lookout as we get into warmer weather – for the next week at least, temperature highs will be above 20, with lows in the double digits.

For the Sparwood fire department, which covers a large area of the Elk Valley, locals and visitors are encouraged to take extra care.

“Always extinguish campfires fully before leaving the area (and) take caution if using smoking materials in the backwoods areas and use a pouch to put smoke butts in,” they said in a release.

“The unsettled weather pattern recently brought lightning into the area over the past few days, as temperatures increase, and surface fuels dry out its possible for holdover fires to surface.”

According to Sparwood fire, with high temps and low humidity on the forecast, the wildfire risk will increase on the daily.

“Now is a great time to FireSmart your property with the most important zone being the 0-1.5m area around your home (non-combustible zone) where you want to have no combustibles. Keep grass trimmed and gutters cleaned out from needles and debris to reduce wildfire risks to your property.”

Keep up to date on fire conditions around the region by following your local fire department online, and by checking in on the BC Wildfire dashboard.

READ MORE: Category 3 fires banned in Southeast B.C., campfires still permitted