PRINCE GEORGE – The Antler Creek fire that forced the evacuations of both Barkerville and Wells was first spotted southwest of Barkerville on July 20th. It was noted early on from local government officials that the conditions with dead wood and tricky terrain made it a challenge to get a handle on that wildfire, a fire the head of Barkerville called a “monster fire.” It was also Al Richmond who noted that the fuel sources that became problematic. “That whole corridor along the highway from Quesnel to Wells and into Barkerville is lined with dead pine. It’s a bomb waiting to go off.” He suggests, had there been proper fuel mitigation, the Antler Creek fire would not have taken off to the degree it did. …But the Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston says the Mountain Beetle epidemic did a lot of damage to BC’s forests and efforts were made to address that.