The average area of forest burned in BC each year has quadrupled since the 1990s

I noticed that in BC the area burned each year seems to have been going up since the early 1990s.   I decided to graph this and here is what I got.

The graph seems to show a fairly clear upward trend.   If 2014 continues as it seems to be at the moment, the 10 year average for 2005-2014 will be in the range 110,000 hectares.  If it becomes a big year, more than 200,000 hectares, that average rises to over 114,000

The data comes from the Ministry of Forests statistics for each year from 1991 to 2013.   I can only access data back to 1991 online.  

Meanwhile at the same time the average number of fires each year has held steady.  So far we have only had 562 fires this season.  The 10 year average would suggest we will see another 1400 more fires this year.

I will do some more on the data later.