B.C. wildfire tally surges as firefighters take to air to battle blazes

The numbers seem ever increasing for British Columbia wildfire statistics, including more than 400 fires, tens of thousands of lightning strikes and at least six homes lost.

The homes were in the Venables Valley, and Colton Davies with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District says they were among 20 buildings destroyed by the Shetland Creek wildfire.

The BC Wildfire Service says recent thunderstorms brought 58,000 lightning strikes, and they expect to see new fire starts from those over the next few days.

More than 80 per cent of current wildfires were started by lightning and about two-thirds of the fires remain out of control.

The wildfire service says local planes and helicopters as well as aircraft from the Yukon, Ontario, Quebec and Alaska have joined the fire fight, with almost 100 airtanker missions from July 18 to 21 dropping 5.4 million litres of suppressant.

People using bodies of water near out-of-control fires such as Shawnigan Lake adjacent to the Old Man Lake wildfire on Vancouver Island have been warned to "keep well away" from aircraft either skimming water or operating otherwise in the area.

The B.C. Ministry of Emergency Management says about 470 properties have been ordered evacuated, while another 3,100 properties are on alert.