Forest Minister Bruce Ralston says rain and cooler weather in recent weeks helped B.C.'s wildfire situation, "but it doesn't take long for our forests to start drying out again."

There are still 214 wildfires burning throughout the province, Ralston said during an update on the current wildfire situation and the fall wildfire outlook on Thursday (Sept. 12). So far this season, there have been more than 1,600 wildfire starts and nearly 200,000 lightning strikes. 

He said fires, on average, were smaller "thanks to boosted response efforts, aided by periods of colder, cooler weather."

"We worked hard to learn from last year and applied those lessons ahead of this season."

The 2023 wildfire season was the most destructive in the province's recorded history, with more than 2.84 million hectares burned. So far this season, 1.056 million hectares have burned. 

But BC Wildfire Service's predictive services superintendent says the ongoing drought means a higher fire danger remains heading into the fall.

Neal McLoughlin, during a presentation on the wildfire season outlook, said it all goes back to a three-year precipitation deficit. He said over the last three years, the province has received "abnormally low" precipitation, about 60-85 per cent of normal levels in August 2021, compared to 40-60 per cent of normal levels in September 2023.

The northeast portion of the province has been hardest hit by the drought, McLoughlin added.

"These conditions have kind of led us into this fire season."

McLoughlin said going into the end of the wildfire season, there might be another 115 to 200 wildfires, "but most of those will be small (and) most of those you won't hear about or even notice." He said they'll be put out quickly with the initial attack.