Cooler weather, rainfall aids B.C. fire fight

While cooler, wetter weather is dampening fire behaviour across B.C., including a newly discovered blaze in the East Kootenay that previously resulted inan evacuation order and alerts for more than 50 properties.

In its situational report Tuesday, theB.C. Wildfire Service says rain, light winds and cooler temperatures are expected to decrease fire behaviour in the province this week.

But the service says a cold front sweeping across theKamloopsand southeast fire centres is alsobringing shifting winds and potential thunderstorms as temperatures drop.

Crews are now battlinga fire discovered Monday next to the community of Baynes Lake, about 50 kilometres southeast ofCranbrook, B.C.

According to the service, the Kikomun wildfire is less than one square kilometrein size and is being held, a designation that means the service does not expect it to grow larger.

The Regional District of East Kootenay saidMonday that a "tactical evacuation" was underway in the Baynes Lake area, with a total of 14 properties on evacuation order and 38 others on evacuation alert. On Tuesday, the district rescinded the order and alert.

That wildfire is among about 220 active fires burning across the province on Tuesday.

Though the service reports that 90 per cent of those fires were caused by lightning,it says the Kikomun wildfire was human-caused.

According to Natural Resources Canada, human-caused climate change is expected to drive the hot and dry conditions that feed fires.