Overnight rain brings temporary relief for BC wildfires but hotter temperatures on the way

Light rain overnight provided a short reprieve for firefighters on the front lines of B.C.'s provincewide wildfires, but hot and dry conditions are expected to return Monday.

As of 10 a.m. Sunday, 279 wildfires were burning throughout the province, with 31 of them considered "of note" by the B.C. Wildfire Service.

Most of the fires are concentrated in the province's Interior, specifically, in the area served by the Kamloops Fire Centre, including the White Rock Lake fire burning between Kamloops and Vernon, B.C.

The fire had earlier ripped through the community of Monte Lake, B.C., and caused ash to rain on the city of Vernon, B.C., on Saturday, but fire information officer Forrest Tower says that overnight rain had reduced the effects of smoke and soot.

Rain diminished fire behaviour

"It looks like some of the fire got upwards of 2.5 millimetres of rain, which honestly isn't a whole lot in the long term," he said. "But in the short term, for the rest of today going into tomorrow, it's quite diminished the fire behaviour for most of the fire."

There is still fire activity on nearly all fronts of the White Rock Lake fire, according to Tower, with the blaze estimated to be nearly 550 square kilometres in size.

The rain on Saturday led the City of Vernon to rescind most of an evacuation alert that had been issued for the entire municipality the day before.

The city of Armstrong, B.C., also rescinded their citywide evacuation alert on Sunday, as did the city of Kamloops for the neighbourhoods of Campbell Creek, Dallas and Barnhartvale.

Evacuation alerts mean residents must be ready to leave their homes at a moment's notice. Evacuation orders mean residents should leave immediately.

The White Rock Lake fire, seen from Ellison Provincial Park, caused ash to rain over the city of Vernon, B.C. (Submitted by Alana Johannson) Another heat wave on the way

The Wildfire Service, however, said hot and dry conditions will return to the province at the start of the week as yet another high-pressure ridge will build another heat wave.

"By the end of next week, it looks to be back to conditions where there'll be some quite significant fire behaviour," said Tower.

"[The heat wave] will bring some more stable conditions, but it will really continue to dry out those fuels," said Briana Hill, another fire information officer with B.C. Wildfire Service.

"Looking even further ahead to when the ridge breaks down, [it will also bring] the potential for new ignitions."

6,902 properties in B.C. are on evacuation order, with nearly 36,000 under evacuation alert.

Earlier in the week, B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said people who ignore evacuation orders knowingly put fire crews at risk.

Tower says residents of Monte Lake and other communities which suffered structural damage, like the Parker Cove area, may still have to wait before they can assess the damage to their properties.

A burned building in the village of Lytton, B.C., where it took more than a month for residents to assess the damage after a June 30 fire destroyed most of the town. The B.C. Wildfire Service says it's not known when residents of Monte Lake, B.C., will be able to go back to their community after a fire there. (Bethany Lindsay/CBC News)

"In terms of a timeline of when they can go back in, the answer is when it's safe," he said, noting that there was no way to accurately say when that would be at this point. 

The overall damage is still unclear, but previously, one resident spoke of watching her home and the homes of her neighbours burn while fleeing.

Lighter winds expected Sunday

While high winds have been a huge problem for firefighters thus far in B.C.'s wildfire season, the overnight rain and cooler conditions mean Sunday's forecast is much more favourable.

"It's still a little gusty. We expect winds gusting up to 20 km/h this afternoon," said Hill. "However, we are expecting lighter winds which will be welcome."

Approximately 6,377 square kilometres have been burned so far this year, with fires expected to last well into September.

Anyone placed under an evacuation order should leave the area immediately. 

Evacuation centres have been set up throughout the province to assist anyone evacuating from a community under threat from a wildfire. To find the centre closest to you, visit the Emergency Management B.C. website.

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