A wildfire has been burning in northern British Columbia shortly since the ban on fires in the region took effect.
A helicopter and a number of crews were needed to contain the grass fire near the village of Kituanga, about 90km northeast of Terrace, on Saturday. The fire caused the closure of Highway 37 for a short time.
Kituanga resident Jacob Beaton spotted the fire and filmed drones before emergency services responded.
“It was shockingly big and right in the middle of our community,” he said.
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Beaton says it’s been weeks since he saw rain on his farm.
“Our last three springs here have just been absurdly dry, we haven’t had rain for weeks, which is really unusual,” he said. “Our climate is just reversed right now. Our last three autumns were record wet seasons, and then our springs were record dry seasons.”
The 16-hectare fire was contained as five firefighters patrolled the fire and cleaned up, according to the Northwest Fire Center.
The fire is believed to have been man-made.
A category 2 and 3 open fire ban came into force at the Northwest Fire Center on Friday due to strong winds, dry vegetation and low rainfall, according to Northwest Fire Center spokeswoman Carolyn Bartos.
Bartosz said the weather forecast shows the region could receive some rain next week.
Last year’s season of forest fires in British Columbia was the third worst in history in terms of burned area. The season peaked much earlier than usual, with drought conditions and a series of punitive heat waves that led to widespread fires, including a fire that leveled the village of Lytton on June 30 and left two dead.
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