A lightning-caused wildfire near Kimberley, British Columbia, has prompted an evacuation alert for all city residents and 66 nearby properties in the Regional District of East Kootenay. Firefighters are building control lines while hot, dry conditions and little rain continue to raise concern.

An out-of-control wildfire south of Pemberton, B.C., triggered an evacuation order for One Mile Lake Park as crews worked to contain the fast-growing blaze. The fire was one of several new wildfires in British Columbia amid hot, dry, and lightning-prone conditions.

Wildfires forced closures of the Coquihalla Highway between Hope and Merritt and Highway 20 east of Bella Coola in B.C., as the Mine Creek fire grew rapidly and jumped Highway 5. Evacuation orders and alerts were issued, and air quality degraded across the province.

A wildfire near Squamish, B.C., has expanded to over 50 hectares, prompting the evacuation of Alice Lake Provincial Park as crews battle the Dryden Creek fire.

As of Tuesday, there were 299 wildfires burning in B.C., with 40 evacuation orders affecting approximately 5,724 people (2,862 properties), in addition to 69 evacuation alerts impacting approximately 32,076 people (16,038 properties).

As of Monday, some 300 wildfire were burning across British Columbia. Thirty-seven blazes, 12 per cent of all B.C. fires, are rated as highly visible or a threat to life or property. Several new evacuation orders and alerts were posted over the weekend by regional governments across B.C.’s southern Interior.