Lightning strikes are the leading cause of wildfires in British Columbia

According to the BC Wildfire Service, 87 per cent of fires this year have been caused by lightning. With close to 9000 strikes within the last 48 hours, this is bad news for the crews battling these blazes.

“A lot of this lightning is not accompanied by precipitation which can increase the chance of igniting a fire,” said Aydan Coray with the BC Wildfire Service.

Fires caused by lightning are more dangerous because they take more time to build. This can lead to these fires causing significant damage before they are reported.

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“There may be lightning strikes that may take a few days up to a week to turn into fires.”

Over the past two days, 15 fifteen fires have been ignited in province with 8 being caused by lightning.

Two notable lightning-caused fires this week are in the North Okanagan and Shuswap areas. The Bonneau Creek fire is burning seven kilometres southwest of Cherryville and is 2.5 hectares in size. Another fire is burning out of control nine kilometres southeast of Sicamous and has consumed over 20 hectares.

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