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Firefighters contain Island blazes

Fires linked to lightning strikes

The B.C. Wildfire Service has extinguished three fires on the Island and brought another three under control.

As of late Friday afternoon, six wildfires remained out of control, but were under a ­hectare in size, said Gordon ­Robinson, spokesman for the B.C. Wildfire Service at the Coastal Fire Centre, based in Parksville.

Fresh lightning strikes sparked three new fires on ­Friday. A blaze about 24 kilometres east of Tahsis was put out by crews. Another lightning-caused fire on West Thurlow Island was under control.

The most recent lightning fire was reported late Friday afternoon southeast of Port McNeill. Robinson said a helicopter was en route to assess it.

The North Island is expected to continue under a lightning warning into today, Robinson said, as conditions were forecast to change to rain and cooler temperatures.

Weather conditions are expected to heat up across the entire Island starting Monday.

Severe thunderstorms rolling through the Interior delivered hundreds of lightning strikes to areas already ranked at a high to extreme risk for wildfires.

Environment Canada thunderstorm watches remained in place on Friday for much of the southeastern Interior, from the Similkameen region to the East Kootenays.

The wildfire service’s website showed 69 new fires over the past two days, including one suspected lightning-caused blaze near Monte Lake, the same area where a massive wildfire destroyed homes last year. The new fires were small, but more lightning is in the forecast for southern and southeastern B.C.

On Wednesday, thunderstorms brought heavy rain that caused mudslides along the Trans-Canada Highway between Spences Bridge and Lytton, which was ravaged by wildfire last year.