The smoky skies over Prince George cleared considerably Thursday morning but we’re not out of the woods yet.
Wildfires to the west and northwest of the city continue to burn out of control and some of those are large fires that are ae expected to grow over the next few days due to the warm and dry weather forecast for the region that will continue to create plumes of smoke affecting air quality.
Madison Dahl, fire information officer for the BC Wildfire Service Vanderhoof-Fort St. James zone, said there are 38 active fires in the Van-Jam zone, 16 of which are out of control and the predicted warm and sunny weather will likely intensify fire activity,with a westerly flow expected that could bring more smoke to Prince George.
“We do have many active fires on the landscape,” said Dahl. “We are actioning them appropriately and we’re confident with the plans we have in place but they are active and you will see smoke coming out of these fires. A lot of the activity is within the perimeter of the fire, however, some of them are growing.”
The UBC website firesmoke.ca is predicting heavier smoke for the city later tonight but that is expected to clear later in the evening.
“The fires may change during the day, they may quiet down at night or in the morning when it’s cooler and then when we get warmer weather or wind gusts they do pick up, so it is hit and miss when you will see smoke columns. You can expect to see a lot more activity and smoke as the weather warms up.”
