The high pressure system causing the unseasonably hot weather across B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan is expected to last until holiday Monday of the Victoria Day long weekend, prompting the B.C. government to enact category two and three fire bans across the province starting Thursday. That means no burning piles or grass. Campfires, defined as a fire under half a metre by half a metre, are still permitted.

"The last thing we need at a time like this, [are] more fires that could have been prevented," said Stefan Hood, a wildfire technician with B.C. Wildfire Service in the Columbia fire zone. He is based in Revelstoke at the primary attack fire base located at the airport.

He encourages people wanting to have a fire to do so responsibly. He advises to have a break around the fire, eight litres of water on hand, don't light a fire if it's windy, and if it gets windy, put it out. "Don't take chances," he said.

Burning piles and grass has been prohibited within Revelstoke city limits since 2006, said Fire Chief Steven DeRousie in an emailed statement. Current conditions do not warrant a ban on backyard campfires within the city, he said. But if the dry, hot weather continues, the city may ban campfires much earlier than in previous years.

The city will follow any prohibitions put in place by the Southeast Fire Centre, but if conditions warrant campfires may be banned in Revelstoke before the rest of the province, DeRousie said.

"Right now fuel is still green, but it's going to switch with the continued heat, and will make fires more receptive to start and spread," said Cliff Chapman, the director of wildfire operations for B.C. Wildfire Operations on Tuesday during a press briefing at the Kamloops fire base.

During conditions like this the weather is assessed hourly, Chapman said, and a campfire ban can be put into place quickly if necessary. But he said that the fires burning now are not being caused by campfires.

At the time of the briefing there had been 206 fires to date in 2023, the majority of the current ones in the Peace Region. The ten-year average of fires-to-date in mid-May is 162.  Fifty thousand hectares have burned to date, and the ten-year average is 11,000 hectares. Although activity in the province is higher than the ten year average, and temperatures are breaking records, Chapman said spring fire seasons are not abnormal. Something similar unfolded in the Peace in 2015, and the summer fire season was "fairly average," he said.

It's impossible to say what the summer fire season will look like because it depends on how much it rains in June, and Chapman said it's impossible to forecast more than two weeks in advance. He would love to see 200 mm of rain fall across the province throughout June, but he's not expecting that to happen.

"I guess to be candid, I'm not surprised by much anymore, and that's why we have to turn to preparing for the worst, and ideally the worst doesn't happen."

Listen to the full press briefing from May 16 in Kamloops with Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston and Cliff Chapman:

The B.C. government has been spending mega money on preparing for the worst when it comes to climate disasters. That includes creating the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, which Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston said is a direct response to anticipated more intense fires, and longer fire seasons.

"And that's why we've also committed to the budget for year-round preparation," he said.

This past winter, 113 fulltime staff were hired to work on "disaster preparedness and response." This year 330 firefighters were hired, which is 130 more than normal years. At the fire base in Revelstoke, these changes coming out of Victoria are translating into more people on fire crews, these crews assisting with flooding when necessary, longer seasons, and plans for a new base to be built on the site.

It's too soon to say what the base will look like, or when it will be finished, but Hood said the facility will be built with the future in mind. "We are an expanding organization and we want to make sure that we can put everyone under the same roof," he said.

Instead of three people on initial attack crews, there will be four, and instead of 20 people on unit crews, there will be 22.

"Those are subtle changes, but it makes a really big difference on how we're able to respond to fires," Hood said.

It also will allow people to manage their work-life balance better as demands are increasing and the intensity of the work is changing, he said. Previously, firefighters trained during the shoulder season, but Hood said now shoulder seasons are becoming fire and flood seasons, and training is something that they're struggling to fit in. So, extending the work season allows flexibility to train during the slower times, he said.

Full interview with Stefan Hood:

Hood has worked for B.C. Wildfire Service in Revelstoke since 2008, but he "doesn't dig in the dirt anymore," he said. Now, he's passionate about prevention.

"We can do what we can out in the forest, but there is a role for homeowners to be proactive ... to make their homes more fire resilient." He said.

The B.C. Fire Smart website has a comprehensive list—there are lots of things you can do, and you don't have to do them all at once, Hood said. They include things like limbing trees and cutting down vegetation so it's not immediately up against structures. Cleaning out gutters, using gravel instead of woodchips for landscaping, keeping lawns cut.

"We have the luxury of time now," he said, "if we see a change in the climate, and we start experiencing fires that are encroaching our community, we'll be better prepared to deal with it."

When the ridge of high pressure breaks early next week, temperatures should return to seasonal, Cliff Chapman, the director of wildfire operations for B.C. said. The problem is, breaks in high pressure usually come with high winds and thunder storms before it rains.

"We have a likelihood of seeing fire starts, really across the province ... depending on where that lightning tracks, if it shows up, on holiday Monday," he said.

He warns people to be vigilant of the conditions, and to report any smoke or fires at the B.C. Wildfire app, or by calling *5555 on your cellphone.

Click here for a full radio report: