By Greg Fry

Wildfire outlook

BC Wildfire Service must contend with a ‘warmer than average’ summer

Jun 24, 2019 | 3:20 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — It’s been a fairly normal start to the wildfire season in the Prince George Fire Centre, but with higher than normal temperatures expected all summer, wildfire crews are bracing for another busy season ahead.

Though things got off to a blistering start last month with the Lejac wildfire near Fraser Lake and smaller blazes near Prince George, things have returned to normal here near the end of June with more precipitation though perhaps not enough.

Even with all the rain of the past week or two, Environment Canada Meteorologist Bobby Sekhon says we’ve still only had a third of the average amount of rainfall we normally see in June.

Forrest Tower, fire information officer with the Prince George Fire Centre, says the precipitation will help, though he says it’s still really dry out there.

“We did have some precipitation in the short-term but we do have very dry fuels and we have very little snowpack left in the fire centre.”

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With that in mind, Tower is urging people, when heading out this long weekend, to take precautions, including having water and a tool in hand.

He says extra funding from the government has helped the fire centre to hire more staff and to launch two para-attack crews in Mackenzie and another in Prince George which he says should help when it’s needed.

Tower says they’ve also learned, from last season, to work more closely with First Nations in the area.