The BC Wildfire Service says this upcoming heat wave next week will be a challenge for crews who are fighting a trio of fires in the Adams Complex near Kamloops.

Operations Director Cliff Chapman says while the cooler and wetter weather this week has helped, firefighters only have about 48 to 72 hours before the heat arrives and dries out available fuel.

“All three of the fires within the Adams Complex received rain, and [that] really allows us the next probably 48 to 72 hours, just ahead of this heat wave setting up, to have successful suppression efforts on the ground and from the air,” Chapman said.

“As we know, we’ve been fairly smoked in in the Interior for the last number of days, so flying aircraft has been a little bit more challenging. Now we’ve got yesterday, today, tomorrow, and probably even into the weekend just ahead of this heat to really have an impact on the ground.”

Environment Canada is forecasting a high of 37 C in Kamloops on Tuesday next week and a high of 38 on Wednesday. It is just under the heat warning threshold for the area as the overnight low on Tuesday is expected to be 16 C.

The Ross Moore Lake fire, south of Kamloops is the largest of the three fires in the Adams Complex, mapped out at roughly 72.5-square kilometers in size.

The Bush Creek East fire is now estimated to be just over 30-square kilometers, while the Lower East Adams Lake fire is now listed at around 65-square kilometers in size. Evacuation orders and alerts are in place around all three of the lighting caused fires that have been burning for the past month.

As of Thursday afternoon, there were around 300 firefighters working across the Adams Complex, along with 13 helicopters, heavy equipment, and structure protection crews.