April 1st marked the official start of B-C’s wildfire season and the B-C Wildfire Service says the province has already recorded its first two blazes. Fire information officer Max Birkner says small fires were sparked in the Stein Valley, west of the Fraser River, and another occurred south of Prince George. Both were quickly knocked down, but Birkner says conditions in the bush are already dry and the fire risk will only rise as the weather warms up. By early May last year, wildfires around Fort. St. John had forced evacuations and charred thousands of hectares of bush, and with snowpacks considered well below normal across the Peace, Liard and Stikine regions of northern B-C this year, concern is growing about the 2017 fire risk.