Smoke from holdover wildfires visible in northeast B.C.

The B.C. Wildfire Service says some holdover fires from 2024 are once again visible in some areas, "smouldering and producing visible smoke."

There are still 37 active wildfires burning in Western Canada, primarily British Columbia but also Alberta, according to the latest figures from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

The bulk are in B.C.'s far northeast, where ongoing drought conditions fuelled blazes that destroyed several homes and forced the evacuation of the entire community of Fort Nelson last year.

Pedro Roldan-Delgado of the Prince George Fire Centre, which covers northeast B.C., said his team has been receiving multiple calls about the smoke. He said crews are going to "known locations where there have been heat signatures" to try to stamp the fires out.

Often, large fires in dry areas will continue to burn underground over the winter, only to resurface in spring. These are known as "zombie fires" or "overwintering fires."

Research suggests such fires are becoming more common as the climate warms. The hot, dry conditions that contribute to powerful wildfires during the summer can lead to deep burning in carbon-rich soils like peat.

Roldan-Delgado said "it's still too early to tell" if the emergence of these holdover fires signal another difficult season ahead.