VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Lightning strikes over the weekend triggered more than 100 new wildfires in British Columbia, raising the total above 300 and leading authorities to order on Monday a ban on campfires for most of the province.
The wildfire danger was high to extreme across most of British Colombia. The province’s Wildfire Service said almost 200 of the fires were ranked as out of control.
Officials warned of challenging conditions, with lightning storms forecast for most of the week and above-average temperatures throughout the central interior of the province.
In announcing the campfire ban, Bowinin Ma, British Colunbia’s minister of emergency management, said the province expected ``continued extreme fire behaviour″ after 115 fires were sparked by lightning over the weekend.
Environment Canada said a high of 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 Farenheit) in Fort Nelson broke a 64-year-old record there Sunday.
Last week, the Canadian Forest Service said wildfires raging across Canada had already broken records for total areas burned, the number of people forced to evacuate their homes and the cost of fighting the blazes.
So far this year there have been 3,412 fires, well above the 10-year average of 2,751. The fires have burned 8.8 million hectares (27.7 million acres), exceeding the record of 7.6 million hectares (18.7 million acres) set in 1989.
