After early summer conditions kick-started this year\u2019s wildfire season, the BC Wildfire Service says recent cooling temperatures are a welcomed pause when facing compounded seasons of drought.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not have any active wildfires on Vancouver Island at this time which is great to see,\u201d says Berg, a COFC fire information officer. That\u2019s as of Saturday afternoon in the Coastal Fire Centre (COFC), with 10 active wildfires<\/a>, five considered human-caused, four confirmed lightning, and one undetermined.<\/p>\n While the reduced number of active fires is welcomed good news, the season didn\u2019t start out slow. Over the next two days more cool conditions are expected, and should further reduce the risk of wildfires in the coastal region, a welcomed trend after this year\u2019s early summer conditions made for an early wildfire season response start. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re sitting above our 10-year average in terms of total fires to date,\u201d says Erika Berg, COFC fire information officer.<\/p>\n The hot and dry early summer conditions led to the BCWS\u2019 campfire ban in the COFC region. With improved conditions, that ban was lifted by the Service on May 15, though some municipalities choosing <\/a>to keep the ban in place for their region.<\/p>\n READ RELATED: <\/p>\n \u201cThe campfire ban didn\u2019t necessarily decrease the number of fires, overall more so the conditions have been a bit more seasonal \u2013 cooling off in the last two weeks,\u201d Berg says.<\/p>\n But a few weeks of cooling conditions doesn\u2019t account for a few seasons of drought. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to catch up after years of compounding drought. Though this bit of precipitation is positive in reducing fire risk, it doesn\u2019t remove the risk entirely, especially if there\u2019s some drier days ahead so we\u2019re constantly assessing these conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n The province\u2019s latest snow conditions issued this week says hot weather conditions that led to a rapid snowpack melt over the first 10 days of May has since slowed considerably due to a shift in cooler temperatures in mid-May.<\/p>\n \u201cOn average, by May 15th approximately one-quarter\u00a0of the peak snowpack melts. This year, approximately 40% of the mountain snowpack melted by mid-May,\u201d states the province<\/a>.<\/p>\n