B.C. wildfires rage as hot weather lingers

Sizzling temperatures are expected to cool in B.C. over the next several days, but that's little immediate consolation for the province's exhausted firefighters.

"We are battling Mother Nature right now, but she has the upper hand," said fire information officer Alyson Couch.

Hot, dry conditions are forecast to continue through Tuesday, and forestry crews are anticipating more aggressive behaviourfrom the 277 wildfires currentlyactive in B.C., Couch said.

"The good news is that some of the fires are starting to see some containment, so we aren't losing everywhere," she said.

Conditions in the Cariboo and Northwest fire centres are still bad.

Sixteen stubborn fires were among the many being handled by those two fire centres, including several huge blazes west and north of Williams Lake that have scorched hundreds of square kilometres of bush and continue to keep residents out of their homes.

Evacuations were ordered for homes near the 130-square kilometre wildfire near Tweedsmuir Provincial Park in west-central B.C.

A 20-square kilometre fire also prompted additional evacuation alerts southeast of Burns Lake, about three hours west of Prince George.

Wildfire sparks B.C. fishing lodge evacuations

A nearly six-square kilometre blaze on the Central Coast, some 45 kilometres north of Bella Coola, forced evacuations and alerts Monday evening. The evacuation orderscovered several fishing lodges and other properties along the Dean River, a renowned steelhead fishing destination.

The order was issued at 6 p.m. Monday evening for the Dean River from Kalone Creek east to the Takla River and affected about 30 residents and lodge guests.

The fire was first spotted on Saturday, and many guests and residents had already left the area by Monday.

Bella Coola is no stranger to isolation by forest fires several wildfires last summer east of the community affected travel along Highway 20, the only road linking the town's residents to the rest of the province.

B.C. has spent $117 million battling 1,448 wildfires that have charred a total of 1,660 square kilometres of woodland since April.