Spreading wildfires in British Columbia are triggering power outages nowhere near the flames.
BC Hydro says on its website that households across the province may be experiencing flickering lights, power interruptions, and power fluctuations.
The utility says this is due to wildfire activity near Clinton, B.C., and crews cannot access the site to make repairs to equipment.
Fires continue to spread across British Columbia, with the wildfire service saying the Fiftynine Creek fire that has triggered evacuation orders and alerts in and around Clinton has grown to more than 167 square kilometres.
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District in the southern Interior announced an overnight expansion of an evacuation order south of Clinton, due to the out-of-control Pear Lake fire that is also part of the Big Bar Complex of fires.
Kevin Skrepnek, the district’s manager of community and emergency services, had previously said buildings on about 20 properties had been damaged or destroyed.
In the area of Boston Bar, about 200 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, the RCMP are urging people to comply with all evacuation orders.
Authorities upgraded an evacuation alert to an order just before midnight, covering the Hells Gate to Alexandra Lodge area, south of the town.
In the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, a new evacuation order has been issued for some recreational properties in the Lillooet Lake area.
The entire city of Kimberley in southeast B.C. is under an evacuation alert due to a cluster of wildfires burning west of the city.
Incident commander Hugh Murdoch says there are seven fires that firefighters are closely watching in the region, and that the fire behaviour “has been held in check for the most part.”
But Murdoch says the weather forecast is far from favourable, with no rain in sight and temperatures above seasonal norms.
The wildfire service says there are about 90 blazes burning across the province.
