The BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) confirmed in their final provincial wildfire status update for 2022, that a major downturn in activity has been observed over the past few weeks.
There are currently 168 active wildfires burning across the province, but of these fires, 82% are already classified as being held or under control.
In the past week, BCWS has seen 24 new fire starts with a majority of the blazes being held under one hectare.
While the agency has seen a decrease in activity, they admit that there is still no season-ending weather in the forecast.
An upper ridge will cause conditions to remain seasonally dry with above seasonal temperatures across much of the province.
Windier conditions are expected in the north over the coming days, and by Saturday, the upper ridge will shift eastward bringing a southwest flow aloft from northern Vancouver Island northwards.
Precipitation will likely only impact the central coast and northward into the Northwest Fire Centre.
“As wildfire activity winds down, this will be the final provincial wildfire status update for the 2022 season. In the coming weeks we will be compiling information, statistics and stories for our annual season summary,” said BCWS.
“We look forward to sharing some of the highlights, challenges and interesting facts that defined the 2022 wildfire season.”
According to BCWS, 74% of fire starts in 2022 were naturally caused, 24% were human-caused and only 2% remained undetermined.
This year the province saw 1,577 wildfires burn an estimated 109,104 hectares, whereas compared to 2021 there were a total of 1,610 fires that burned close to 868,204 hectares.
You can read past wildfire season summaries dating back to 2003, here.
