B.C. recorded 236 new wildfires over last week, most caused by lightning

Lightning sparks new B.C. wildfires The past weekend saw thousands of lightning strikes, dozens of new fires and the brief evacuation of an entire community.

There were 236 new wildfires sparked across British Columbia over the last week, the vast majority of which are believed to have been caused by lightning.

That total – provided by the B.C. Wildfire Service on Monday – includes 34 fires ignited since Sunday morning.

On Saturday, an out-of-control wildfire prompted an evacuation order in the Village of Valemount, though displaced residents were allowed to return home the next day.

Mayor Owen Torgerson thanked local and provincial firefighters for their quick work responding to the fire.

“I’m not going to lie, this had potential to hit a lot of the fuel loads along the CN Rail corridor and make its way into town,” Torgerson told CTV News on Monday. “This fire became the number one provincial priority in terms of getting it under control as quickly as possible.”

The mayor said Valemount is “open for business” Monday as a result of those efforts.

An evacuation alert remains in effect for the Cedarside area, meaning affected residents should be prepared to leave home on short notice.

According to the BCWS website, there were 414 active wildfires burning across the province as of Monday morning, after crews extinguished 36 blazes over the preceding 24 hours.

An estimated 83 per cent of new fires recorded over the last seven days are likely lightning-caused.

And while firefighters are anticipating cooler temperatures over the coming days, officials said there's still more lightning in the forecast this week.

Several areas of the province are under severe thunderstorm watch, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada, including parts of the Fraser Canyon, Okanagan and Kootenays.

On top of lightning and strong winds, forecasters said the storms could also produce large hail and torrential rainfall.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Kraig Krause