UPDATE 13 active wildfires sparked by lightning on coastal B.C.

By Alex Rodgerson

Published: June 23, 2018 at 6:50 AM

BC Wildfire Map as of June 21 **watch for datingBC Wildfire Service

Fire information officer for the Coastal Fire Centre, Donna MacPherson says these were started in the lightning storms that struck the whole province Wednesday

In Coastal B.C there are 13 active wildfires that were caused by the lightning storms that struck the province on Wednesday.

Fire information officer for the Coastal Fire Centre, Donna MacPherson says yesterday there were 16, but they have managed to extinguish three.

“It’s almost double what we normally have in our 10 year average,” MacPherson said. “The coast normally doesn’t get a lot of lightning in the spring. This is an unusual storm and it did hit the north part of the island quite badly. All of the fires were relatively small except one on Vancouver Island, we have a five hectare fire at a place called Vernon Lake.”

MacPherson says since the storm was damp - fires could lay dormant for a few days so the number could rise in the next few days.

If you see a plume of smoke phone 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on your cellphone to report it -- MacPherson says the earlier fires are caught the easier they are to manage.