Lightning ignites 72 new wildfires in northern B.C.

Lightning sparked 72 new wildfires in B.C.’s north on Wednesday, and one fire covers about 950 hectares, the BC Wildfire Service said Thursday.

All the new fires are burning in the Prince George, Mackenzie, Bulkley, Nadina, Skeena and Vanderhoof/Fort St. James zones, the service said.

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“We had an exceptionally busy day [Wednesday], certainly our busiest day since last year,” said chief fire information officer Kevin Skrepnek.

“[We had] 116 new fires across the province yesterday alone, the lion’s share of that driven by a really intense lightning storm across B.C. 19,000 lightning strikes in total, across the province.”

But those aren’t the only fires burning in the north.

The largest blaze burning in the Prince George zone is the Kloch Lake fire, which has reached an area of 950 hectares.

Other fires burning in the Prince George area include the Foster Road Fire, which is 25 hectares in size and located about seven kilometres south of Fraser Lake.

Neither fire is threatening structures or communities, however.

Meanwhile, in the Northwest Fire Centre, the Maxan Lake fire is burning at about 94 hectares, while the Endako fire covers about 30 hectares and the Taltapin Lake fire about 30 hectares.

Again, none are threatening structures or communities at this time.

READ MORE: B.C. wildfire burns at up to 20 hectares between Logan Lake and Kamloops

The BC Wildfire Service is warning people that any additional fires caused by humans can “divert critical resources away from naturally occurring fires.”

“Forests and grasslands in much of northern B.C. are very dry, so wildfires may start easily, burn vigorously and challenge fire suppression efforts,” said a news release.

The service has urged people to “use extreme caution” when they’re in the backcountry.