Lightning sparks B.C. fires

VANCOUVER, B.C. – The forest fire situation in British Columbia flared up Saturday as fire officials said 14,000 lightning strikes hammered the province, sparking more than a dozen new wildfires.

And the cost of fighting the fires is soaring.

The province has already hit the $20 million mark – more than twice the amount spent fighting forest fires at the same time last year, said B.C. Fire Information Officer Nancy Argyle.

B.C. has a direct fire budget of about $50 million for the fire season – and if the costs exceed that, an open vote within the Ministry of Forests will be held on whether to increase the budget.

The problem is only getting worse. Nearly 400 fires were burning around the province on Saturday, compared to 56 burning in the province last June.

Thunderstorms raged through the province Friday night, bringing dry lightning and winds that reached up to 43 miles an hour.

“We had an electrifying night,” Argyle said. The Cariboo, Kamloops and southeast fire regions were hit the hardest.

Fire Information Officer Kevin Matuga said it was an extremely busy night in the Kamloops region, with crews working tirelessly to contain the fires.

“Over the last two days we’ve had 58 new fires and most have been contained at less than (half a mile) in size,” he said.

Some areas of the province saw a little rain overnight but not enough to douse the flames, he said.

Meanwhile, wind caused a fire in north-central B.C. to expand at an alarming rate. More than 200 firefighters battled that fire, which blazed south of Vanderhoof.

“There’s a concern that if the winds shift a number of homesteads to the northeast will be threatened,” said Fire Information Officer Mary Viszlai-Beale.