File:Extreme Heat Sparks Fires in British Columbia (MODIS 2021-07-01).jpg

English: Extreme heat and high wind contributed to an early and angry start to the summer fire season in British Columbia, Canada. According to the B.C. Wildfire Dashboard, there have been 416 wildfires in the province since January 1, 2021, with 51 of those reported during the last week. On June 30, there were 41 active wildfires burning in British Columbia, which is an increase of 26 fires in the last two days alone.

Record-breaking heat has gripped Western Canada and the Western United States over the last several days, driving dangerous fire conditions. The British Columbia Wildfire Service’s Daily Danger Rating on June 30 showed at least three-quarters of the province at Extreme or High Fire Danger.

All-time high temperature records have been broken repeatedly across British Columbia since June 25. The village of Lytton, which sits north of Vancouver at the confluence of the Fraser and the Thompson Rivers, broke record high daily and all-time temperatures for all of Canada—three days in a row. The previous record of 45˚C (113˚F) was set in Saskatchewan in 1937. On June 27, Lytton edged ahead with 46.1˚C (115˚F) and the next day the temperature reached 47.9˚C (118.2˚F). The record was shattered once again as temperatures hit 49.5˚C (121˚F) on June 29. On the heels of the extreme heat, a fire sparked in Lytton, a town of about 250 people, causing an evacuation order for the entire town. Social media posts claim that the fire erupted so fast that people only had time to get to their cars and leave, and that several buildings have been engulfed.

On June 29, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of another fire burning in British Columbia. This is the Sparks Lake Fire, which sparked to life on June 28 just 15 miles north of Kamloops Lake. With extreme fire behavior, the fire quickly exploded to affect about 4,000 hectares (9,884 acres) by June 30. The Sparks Lake Fire is currently listed as “out of control”.

High temperatures and gusting winds not only aid fire ignition and growth across British Columbia but have also made firefighting difficult. A tweet by the BC Wildfire Service on June 30 read, “The hot weather continues to cause challenges. Multiple helicopters had to shut down due to engines overheating. Suppression efforts were impacted due to the helicopters restricted lifting capacity in heat, limiting the amount of water they can put in their buckets at a time.”