Lightning this week:

A large lightning storm passed through B.C. this week, igniting 21 fires within the Northwest Fire Centre. Fire crews have responded to 21 fires since Tuesday, all of which were caused by lightning.

All of the detected fires are very small in size with the exception of one fire in the Good Hope Lake area, which is approxi-mately 7.5 hectares in size.

Resources:

The Northwest Fire Centre’s crews are currently all located within the region.

Through an agreement with the Yukon, the Northwest Fire Centre has an addi-tional initial attack crew based out of Wat-son Lake to extinguish any fires in the northern portion of the region.

Provincially:

The only fires of note in the province cur-rently are in the Fort Nelson area. Several fires in that area range in size from 1,000 to 7,000 hectares. The majority of these fires are classified as “modified response” letting the fire burn within certain pa-rameters and taking care to protect any values.

Northwest Fire Centre update

2012.08.09

Above: A lightning map of the Northwest Fire Centre. Each blue

dot or cross represents a lightning strike.

There were over 200, 000 lightning strikes this week throughout

British Columbia, and we expect to detect many new fires as a re-

sult of the lightning.

Fire updates

Visit our websites at bcwildfire.ca and emergencyinfobc.gov.bc.ca

Good Hope Lake fire (displayed in photos)

This fire is approximately 7.5 hectares in size

and is burning in a mixed forest. In the past, fires

in this area have grown quite large because they

were burning in a volatile, black spruce fuel

type.

Firefighters are working on this fire today and

fire officials are confident that this fire will stay

quiet based on the forecasted cooler weather.

Fires near Terrace, B.C.

Six new fires were detected in the area surrounding Terrace. All of these fires were less than a hectare in size

and are now completely contained.

Report a wildfire *5555 on a cell or 1-800-663-5555

Wildfire Information Line 1-888-3FOREST

Burn Registration Line 1-888-797-1717

Northwest Fire Information Officer 1-250-847-6639

Important Numbers

P A G E 3

Precipitation

Temperature Relative Humidity

These graphs are for informational purposes only and should not be used for operational decisions.

Fire Danger Rating

These maps are current for August 9, 2012.

For the most recent weather maps, please see www.bcwildfire.ca/weather

P A G E 4

Valid as of 8:00 a.m. Thursday August 9, 2012 Synopsis for today and tomorrow: A much quieter day today with no thunder-showers expected. An upper low centre now north of Atlin will move to the south-east Yukon by late afternoon. Expect a few showers in the north during the day along with much cooler temperatures. In the south a drier westerly flow will give variable cloudiness and isolated to scattered showers. The southeast should be the driest with only spotty light showers, if any. Expect highs in the mid to upper teens today except near 20 in the south. Winds light and at times moderate with some gustiness in the northeast. Outlook for Saturday to Monday: A weak ridge of high pressure brings a mix of sun and cloud Saturday and Sunday. Still a chance of showers on the coast, dry elsewhere in the fire centre. An upper low centre should bring more cloud and scat-tered showers mainly in the north on Monday. Highs through the period in the upper teens to low 20s. Outlook for Tuesday to a week from Saturday: A strong ridge of high pressure is forecast to bring mainly sunny skies and warmer temperatures Tuesday through Friday. The ridge should move eastward on Saturday. Expect some showers in the west with cooler temperatures. EAST ZONE (KISPIOX TO BURNS LAKE) Today.. A mix of sun and cloud. Morning fog patches. Isolated showers. Winds northwest 15 km/h. Minimum RH 40 to 50 per cent. Highs 17 to 20. Tomorrow.. A mix of sun and cloud. Isolated showers. Winds southwest to north-west 15 km/h. Minimum RH 35 to 45 per cent. High near 18 to 21. Chance of lightning today/tomorrow.. 10%/10%. Intense..0%/0%. WEST ZONE (KEMANO TO BELL II) Today.. Cloudy with sunny breaks, scattered showers. Winds south to southwest 20 to 30 km/h with gusts to 45. Minimum RH 50 to 60 perc ent. High 17. Tomorrow.. Cloudy with sunny breaks. Isolated showers. Winds south to southwest 15 to 25 km/h. Minimum RH 45 to 55 per cent. High 18. Chance of lightning today/tomorrow.. 0%/0%. Intense..0%/0%. COAST (NORTH COAST) Today.. Mainly cloudy with a few showers. Wind southeast to south 15 to 20 km/h. Minimum RH 75%. High 15. Tomorrow.. Cloudy with sunny breaks. Scattered showers. Wind south to southwest 15 to 20 km/h. Minimum RH 70%. High 16. Chance of lightning today/tomorrow.. 10%/0%. Intense..0%/0%. NORTHERN ZONE (BOB QUINN TO ATLIN TO WATSON LAKE) Today.. Mainly cloudy with scattered showers. Wind southwest 20 to 25 km/h with gusts to 40. Minimum RH 40 to 50 percent. Highs in the mid-teens. Tomorrow.. Cloudy with sunny breaks. Scattered showers. Winds west to northwest 15 to 20 km/h. Minimum RH 40 to 50 per cent. Highs in the mid to upper teens. Chance of lightning today/tomorrow.. 10%/20%. Intense.. 0%/0%. Confidence: Fair to good. Rain has been spotty and quite light in the southeast and we expect this to continue the next couple of days. Good chance of showers in the north with the upper low. Looks like the strong ridge is delayed a day, now ex-pected to build over the fire centre on Tuesday.

Northwest Fire

Centre Statistics

Since April 1, 2012:

Fires to date: 63

Hectares burned: 26

Person-caused fires: 24

Lightning-caused fires: 37

2011 at this time:

Fires to date: 17

Hectares burned: 11,009

Person-caused fires: 11

Lightning-caused fires: 5

2010 at this time:

Fires to date: 123

Hectares burned: 34,221

Person-caused fires: 45

Lightning-caused fires: 78

Current Prohibitions and Restrictions

All open fires are prohibited within the Northwest Fire Centre with the exception of the former North Coast Forest District. The prohibition will remain in place until August 31, 2012 unless it is lifted earlier.

Specifically, this prohibits: the burning of any waste, slash or other material; the burning of stubble or grass; the use of fireworks or burning barrels of any size or description.

This prohibition does not include campfires, gas or propane cooking stoves, or briquettes. Campfires must not be larger than 0.5 metres by 0.5 metres in size.

This prohibition covers all BC Parks, Crown and pri-vate lands, but does not apply within the bounda-ries of local governments that have forest fire pre-vention bylaws and are serviced by a fire depart-ment. Please check with civic authorities for any prohibitions before light-ing a fire.

P A G E 5

BC Parks areas effected by the prohibition

Prohibition in effect for public and private land unless covered in another en-

actment