The BC Wildfire Service reported today that an increase in winds this weekend could pose challenges for fire fighting efforts of active fires in the province, including the more notable fires.

Kevin Skrepnek with the BC Wildfire Service says that winds are expected to pick up today, and are a real concern for fire fighting crews.

This season, they have responded to 1031 fires, which have burned an estimated 900,000 hectares of land.

Skrepnek said that, given the forecast, “we are certainly not done with this season by any stretch of the imagination.”

Not a lot of rain is in the forecast, particularly for the southern interior, and temperatures are expected to remain generally warm and dry.

Skrepnek said that since the fires that sparked on July 7th that got out of control, they have been able to maintain relatively good control of fires that have sparked since then.

However, with the forecast calling for more wind, fire officials are concerned about fire activity flaring up again.

“We’re definitely concerned, given that forecast, realistically on a number of these fires we going to be seeing some growth and some increased activity,” Skrepnek said. “Certainly Hanceville, certainly Elephant Hill,  will likely both be flaring up.”