The forest firefighters of British Columbia continue to be busy. A heavy thunderstorm this week triggered at least 20 new blazes on northern Vancouver Island.

Lightning strikes left dozens of "hangover" fires from Denman Island to Alert Bay, and dozens more could flare up when the weather dries out later this week, said Donna MacPherson, fire information officer for the Coastal Fire Centre.

"When lightning comes through like this, the strikes that go through the trees can start the trees on fire from the inside out, or they can catch the roots on fire underground," said MacPherson.

"What we're anticipating is as soon as this rain dries out, which is probably going to be about three or four days from now, we'll be getting lots more — and lots more," she said.

Here is today's Fire Weather Index map from the Canadian Forest Service:

(click for full size)

Sources:
Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (daily Fire Weather Index map)
Storm sparks 20 B.C. forest fires (CBC)