Last year’s wildfire season was one of the very worst on record for British Columbia. A full six months after a campfire ban was lifted in September 2018, the province is still dealing with consequences of the fires.

Yesterday (March 31), the government warned that with spring’s arrival, residents should be on guard for flooding that will likely be more severe on account of damage from last year’s fires.

“Wildfire activity can increase the risk of natural landslides and flooding,” explains a media release. “Areas burned during the 2018 wildfire season may face a higher risk of soil erosion, which could result in more sedimentation in waterways and in drainage infrastructure, such as culverts or ditches.

“Post-wildfire rehabilitation planning and implementation activities were partially completed in priority areas prior to the arrival of snow and freezing conditions in November 2018,” the release continues.

“These initial activities addressed the most immediate concerns, but they have not eliminated all potential risks. It will take time during the next growing season for soil-stabilizing plants to regenerate and help mitigate soil movement and erosion hazards in burned areas. Rehabilitation work and planning will continue in the region in the spring.”

Wildfires often cause soil erosion that leads to exacerbated flood conditions that can be just as dangerous as the fires themselves. In January 2018, a series of landslides killed 21 people in southern California. The mudflows were caused by heavy rains that occurred shortly after wildfires had burned through the area.

The B.C. government’s March 31 warning for post-fire floods and landslides mentions the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako specifically. That’s an area of central B.C. that includes Smithers, Burns Lake, and Vanderhoof.

“People travelling on roads downslope of burned areas should exercise caution, particularly when snowmelt rates are high or when rain or snow is falling,” the release reads. “Care should also be taken during summer thundershowers since heavy rain can increase the potential for floods or landslides.”

A few days earlier, on March 26, the province issued another warning related to last year’s wildfires, this one about overwintering fires.

“An overwintering fire can occur when a wildfire that burned deep underground last year has continued to smoulder all winter long,” it explains. “Given the extent and intensity of many wildfires in the summer of 2018, some of these residual hot spots could flare up with the arrival of warmer and drier weather this spring.”

During the 2018 fiscal year, B.C. experienced 2,117 wildfires that collectively burned 1.4 million hectares.

A state of emergency was declared on August 15 and remained in effect until September 7.

https://twitter.com/BCGovFireInfo/status/1108499132665073666

Last year is one of only two in the last 10 where B.C. saw more than one million hectares lost to wildfires. The other was 2017.

In all of 2017, there were an estimated 1,353 wildfires in B.C. and 1.22 million hectares burned.

The 10-year average for hectares burned annually is 151,000—roughly one-tenth the numbers burned each year in 2017 and 2018.

A July 2017 release from the provincial government notes that year's fires—which were recorded as "the worst in generations"—were due, "in large part," to climate change.