Dryer than normal March resulting in early wildfires

KAMLOOPS — A few small wildfires have been popping up throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre in recent weeks. The BC Wildfire Service says dry conditions are helping these fires ignite, but so far none of these fires has been significant.

“It’s not uncommon for us to get wildfires this time of year,” said Fire Information Officer Kyla Fraser. “The fuels on the ground are still dry and dead from the spring and they haven’t had a chance to green up yet, which means that they are still quite volatile and a wildfire can ignite easily.”

According to Environment Canada Meteorologist Lisa Erven, precipitation amounts this March are well below normal.

“The Kamloops Airport has really only reported trace amounts of rainfall this month,” Erven said. “That dry trend is actually pretty wide spread throughout southern BC. There’s multiple communities that have only seen anywhere from two to 15 per cent of their normal March precipitation so far.”

While it can be alarming to see wildfires popping up as early as March, the true test of what kind of a wildfire season B.C. can expect comes a bit later.

“As we get into the latter half of spring and early summer we can expect to see monthly precipitation values getting upwards of about 25 millimetres and then sort of 35-40 as we get into June,” Erven said. “We really rely on the rains of May and June to help set us up for the rest of the summer season.”

In 2017, which was one of the worst wildfire seasons on record for B.C., there was very little precipitation throughout the month of June.

“Which meant that coming into the month of July, fuels were extremely dry,” Fraser said, “so when lightning moved through the area it caused multiple wildfires to ignite.”

The Kamloops Fire Centre has yet to experience any lightning this spring, which means those fires that have ignited are likely human-caused.

“As we move into the spring, if you are doing any burning on your property, maybe you’re one of those people that likes to get out early and start camping — please be extremely cautious with your fire usage, because fuels are very dry right now and it’s still very easy for a wildfire to ignite,” Fraser said.

Environment Canada says a shift in the weather is coming, with more rainfall expected in the last few weeks of March.