British Columbia Officials Expect Another Bad Forest Fire Season
``Current drought and fuel conditions indicate that this fire season could be as bad as last year,'' said Coleman, who is responsible for emergency services.
Last year wildfires blackened more than 1,000 square miles in the province, the highest total on record. About 50,000 people were evacuated and more than 300 homes were lost, including much of a Kelowna subdivision that was consumed by a fast-moving, 10-story wall of flame.
So far this year, fires have cost the government $5 million (US$3.7 million), Coleman said at an open provincial cabinet meeting.
``Last year at this time there had been 195 fires,'' he said. ``This year there have been 310 fires.''
Former Manitoba premier Gary Filmon was commissioned last fall to recommend ways to prevent a recurrence of the destruction of last year. He presented 42 recommendations in February, including burns and strategic logging even in provincial parks.
The government promised to implement all of those recommendations in time for the current fire season.
The threat may be easing in some areas. Kevin Matuga, spokesman for the Kamloops fire center, said the parched area received double its normal rainfall in May, most of it in the last 10 days, but was quick to add that more is needed.
``Given the fact we've had so many months of dry conditions and such an extreme drought last year, it's going to take a lot more precipitation than we received,'' Matuga said.
Bill Barisoff, provincial minister of water, land and air protection, told the cabinet that beside the fire danger, many communities have experienced water shortages because of a low snowpack.
``It's of utmost importance that we must conserve water -- and you see it when we have forest fires where we need a lot of water,'' Barisoff said.