Rain is expected later this week, but the B.C. Wildfire Service says it will do little to help the wildfire battle. What they really need is heavy rainfall and less wind.

An unstable air mass is expected to move across the province this week, bringing lower temperatures and higher relative humidity through Thursday.

“Unfortunately it doesn't appear it will be significant enough to really bring down the fire danger rating,” said fire information officer Navi Saini.

“It's a few millimetres of rain that will be welcomed, but at this point doesn't look like it's quite enough to really help with the fire situation… It has to be a significant amount of rain.”

Photo credit: BC Wildfire Service

The fire danger rating throughout the Cariboo and Kamloops Fire Centre remains high to extreme. Crews are battling 155 active fires, 15 of which are directly threatening Interior communities.

As the unstable air mass moves through the province, Saini said B.C. Wildfire is expecting lightning strikes that could spark more fires.

Fire crews are at the mercy of the weather. Winds over the past weekend fueled the growth of the Elephant Hill wildfire (formerly the Ashcroft Reserve wildfire) that is now more than 52,000 hectares.

Heavy smoke has caused poor visibility in the Interior and B.C. Wildfire has had to pull crews off fires burning in the Cariboo.

“Weather is the number one driver of fire activity so we are hoping for rain and continuing to monitor conditions on the ground as well as weather forecasts,” Saini said.