©BCWildfireService

A large swath of sparsely populated land in B.C.’s Cariboo region has been placed on evacuation alert due to a nearby wildfire. The Cariboo Regional District issued the alert for eight parcels covering 696.57 hectares in the Webster Creek Fire Area on Thursday, citing “potential danger to life and health.” The Webster Creek wildfire was discovered Wednesday. It’s located west of Highway 97 between Williams Lake and Quesnel, two of the region’s largest population centres. According to the B.C. Wildfire Service, the blaze is currently burning on roughly 66 hectares and displaying Rank 1 and Rank 2 fire behaviour, the least intense levels on the scale. There are 19 firefighting personnel responding to the wildfire, supported by helicopters and heavy equipment.