There are currently two small non-contained wildfires burning in the Southeast Fire Centre — one west of Slocan and another at the southern end of Kootenay Lake — but they’re both small and aren’t threatening any communities or structures.
“We currently have a few active fires, but most of them are 100 per cent contained,” information officer Karlie Shaughnessy told the Star on Monday morning.
“That being said, our fire danger rating remains high to extreme for most of the Southeast Fire Centre because we have very dry, volatile conditions and we’re expecting lightning and minimal precipitation starting this afternoon.”
Some of the local fire crews have headed out to the Cariboo, Kamloops and Prince George to assist firefighters there. The rest are pre-placed and ready to respond to new start-ups.
To date, there have been 61 fires in the Southeast Fire Centre that have burned 86 hectares. Last year at this time there had been 44 fires, burning 316 hectares.
“Last year was slow, but our five year average is 70 fires by this date, with 385 hectares burned, so we’re still below that average as of today.”
The campfire ban remains in place.
“There will be no fires whatsoever allowed, and that ban will stay in place until we see significant precipitation — and there is little or none in the forecast.”