Image Credit: Adam Berls

By Adam Berls

wildfire season 2023

Drought conditions leading to more wildfires burning longer

Oct 26, 2023 | 2:57 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — The wildfire season in BC started six months ago, and there are currently over 250 active wildfires burning across the province the right now, with the vast majority considered under control, around 30 fires are still deemed as out of control.

“We’ve kind of moved out of the core season and where we see a lot of like our lightning starts and everything like that. We do still have a lot of fire on the landscape and that’s primarily a result of the persistent drought conditions that we experienced even since last fall.” – Sharon Nickel, Fire Information Officer, BC Wildfire Service

Nearly 23,000 square kilometers have burned in the Prince George Fire Centre so far this year and drought conditions have not been helping with the fire situation.

“Any given wildfire season is going to be dependent on the weather conditions, but leading into next year, we’re already in a drought situation. It’s not a good sign for, you know, fuel, moisture and soil moisture as the spring opens up and we’ll see what we get.” – Dr. Joseph Shea, Associate Professor of Environmental Geomatics, UNBC

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Fire Information Officer Sharon Nickel says that if we head into a winter season and the ground freezes before we receive a lot of rainfall or even a little bit of snow in that continuous melt, the ground freezes before moisture can penetrate it, therefore not allowing moisture to get into the deeper layers of soil, making it difficult to extinguish.

Nickel also points out that if we have below average snowfall and a quick melt in the spring, the water and moisture will not have a chance to penetrate the soil, leading to continued dry conditions and fires will flare up once temperatures increase in the spring.

Map of Active Wildfires in BC. Image Credit: BC Wildfire Service

The 2023 wildfire season may not be an anomaly going forward in the future with Dr. Joseph Shea saying that he wouldn’t “be surprised to see more summers like [2023] in the future.” Shea also said that the “trend is more of these dry events, more of these drought conditions, and that sets the stage for bigger and more intense wildfires.”

98 active fires are burning in the Prince George Fire Centre, the most out of any other fire centre, but the service says that the number of active fires will continue to go down, as the province receives more rain, and eventually snow.

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Twitter: @AdamBerls

Email: Adam.Berls@pattisonmedia.com