VANCOUVER—The BC Wildfire Service says some of last summer’s monster forest fires could still be smouldering deep underground and may flare up with little warning. So-called “overwintering fires” are the result of huge burns such as last summer’s Elephant Hill fire near Kamloops. They can continue to smoulder for weeks or months, sometimes popping up again in the spring when the snow recedes. The areas of concern include the Kamloops and Cariboo regions, which bore the brunt of last summer’s infernos. Allen said the most likely places for these underground fires to re-emerge are locations where the original fire burned hottest and longest, where there are deep layers of organic soil and where the ground stays relatively dry through the winter.

Source: thestar May 01, 2018 00:14 UTC