Spring dip causing uptick in B.C. wildfires [Video]

The number of wildfires in British Columbia has roughly doubled over the past several days, but an information officer with the BC Wildfire Service says the activity can be attributed to the annual “spring dip.”

Amanda Graves says the phenomenon is caused by a decrease in moisture in the needles of coniferous trees.

She says it comes shortly after the snow has melted, but before vegetation “begins to get really green.”

But Graves says it’s too soon to say whether recent fires are an indicator of what’s to come this wildfire season.

The BC Wildfire Service dashboard shows there were 46 active fires as of midday Monday, six of which have been started were started in the previous 24 hours and 80 per cent were human-caused.

Graves noted that B.C. doesn’t typically get much lightning at this time of year, which explains why most fires in the spring are human-caused.

“When we …