Category Archives: Forest Fires

The Sierras are one of the BC Wildfire Service’s rare live-on-base unit crews. That means for most of the summer, the team of 20 firefighters live and work together nearly 24 hours a day for weeks on end. They’re often tasked with holding the line against fires that have grown too large for the more nimble initial attack teams. It’s dirty, difficult and often unglamorous work, but the bonds they form are nearly as tight as their carefully-rolled shirt sleeves. …As B.C. faces its worst wildfire season ever — and the worst in Canada — crews like the Sierras are being tested like almost never before. Resources are stretched thin, and thousands of firefighters have been called in from around the world.

Firefighters battling hundreds of blazes in British Columbia say they’ve been facing more than the usual obstacles, blaming members of the public for interfering with operations. The B.C. Wildfire Service says it’s had to deal with several people riding all-terrain vehicles around active work sites, and in one case, a drone in the air forced firefighters to halt operations. Fire information officer Donna MacPherson said Tuesday that the behaviour impacts efforts to put out fires and leaves both those interfering and firefighters at risk. She said interference on the ground pulls resources away to deal with getting the unwanted visitors out safely, and any delays in air support can affect how well a fire is fought. …the service said there have been several reports of people riding ATVs around active work sites and getting in the way of heavy equipment operators and firefighters battling multiple fires in the Burns Lake area in northwestern B.C.

ALBERTA — Carrol Johnston counted her blessings as she stood on the barren site where her home was destroyed by a fast-moving wildfire that forced her to flee her northern Alberta community two months ago. …The worst wildfire season in Canadian history is displacing Indigenous communities from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, blanketing them in thick smoke, destroying homes and forests and threatening important cultural activities like hunting, fishing and gathering native plants. …Fires aren’t uncommon on Indigenous lands, but they’re now occurring over such a widespread area that many more people are experiencing them at the same time — and some for the first time — stoking fears of what a hotter, drier future will bring, especially to communities where traditions run deep. …As of Monday, 106 wildfires have affected 93 First Nations communities this year, and there have been 64 evacuations involving almost 25,000 people, according to Indigenous Services Canada.

“These fires are some of the worst we have tackled.” That’s from Iverson Forest Management Fire Coordinator and General Manager Dayton Gilmore who told Vista Radio their group based out of Duncan on Vancouver Island has been deployed five times to the Prince George Fire Centre since May. Gilmore stated they are also able to draw on local resources here to avoid any burnout scenarios. …Due to the large number of hectares burned, crews from Mexico, Australia, and the United States have been called in to assist in the Prince George Fire Centre – something Gilmore says is a unique aspect of the job. …Gilmore added the wildfires that do occur out on Vancouver Island have lot a less sting than in the north – much of that has to do with terrain and other ecological factors. …Iverson will be offering their services until the fire season wraps up. 

British Columbia’s 2023 wildfire season has set a destructive new record, with more hectares scorched than in any year on record. The BC Wildfire Service said Monday that 1,181 fires across the province have burned more than 1.393 million hectares to date — an area about the same size as the Bahamas. That figure eclipses the 1.354 million hectares burned by 2,117 fires in the historic 2018 wildfire season. The province spent $615 million fighting fires that year, the third most expensive fire season in modern history. The 2023 figure is also nearly 3.5 times as large as the 10-year average for hectares burned, with months yet to go in the season and the province warning of the potential of a record drought. Currently, there are 384  fires burning across the province, including 22 wildfires listed as visible or threatening enough to be considered “fires of note.” The northeast has felt the brunt of the 2023 season, with 388 fires.

The number of wildfires in British Columbia continues to rise amid persistent drought, and federal aid — including military resources — is on the way.  Maps from the B.C. Wildfire Service and Emergency Management B.C. show nearly 70 wildfire-related evacuation alerts and orders as of Saturday morning.  While wildfire activity was largely concentrated in northeastern B.C. earlier this season, most blazes of note are now clustered in the Bulkley-Nechako and Cariboo regions of the central Interior, between Prince George and Terrace.  B.C.’s drought bulletin also shows nearly the whole province is experiencing drought conditions of at least Level 3 of five, with the Fort Nelson basin in the northeast, the Bulkley basin and all of Vancouver Island classified at the most severe level.  Bowinn Ma, B.C.’s minister of emergency management and climate readiness, says federal personnel will work alongside about 2,000 crew members with the B.C. Wildfire Service as they fight nearly 380 blazes burning throughout the province.

In CTV News: Military begins B.C. wildfire deployment blazes continues to climb

The provincial government has declared a state of emergency for the Stikine region as the Little Blue River wildfire continues to burn out of control.  That wildfire, believed to be caused by lightening, is now an estimated 30,000 hectares in size, according to the BC Wildfire Service. It was first discovered last week.  The Stikine region is the only unincorporated region in the province, meaning the provincial government — rather than a municipality or district — is responsible for implementing its evacuation orders.  Some 740 people live in the region, which borders Alaska and Yukon, as well as the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, and the regional districts of Kitimat-Stikine, Peace River, and Bulkley-Nechako. Its largest town is Atlin.  The state of emergency will last two weeks unless otherwise stated, the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness said in a Monday statement. 

The Province of BC is declaring a state of emergency for the unincorporated Stikine region in response to the ongoing wildfire situation and is expanding campfire bans throughout the province. An evacuation order is in place for specific areas in the region affected by the Little Blue River wildfire. The Stikine region is B.C.’s only unincorporated region. The Province is responsible for implementing evacuation orders for the region, which requires the Province to issue a state of emergency for the region. The declaration is in effect as of Monday, July 10, 2023. Once issued, the state of emergency is initially in effect for 14 days and may be extended or rescinded as necessary. Effective July 10, category 1 campfires will be prohibited throughout B.C. with the exception of Haida Gwaii. Campfires have already been prohibited in many regions of B.C. …There are 311 active wildfires burning in the province.

The Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako and the Regional District of Cariboo have issued evacuation orders this weekend due to wildfires in British Columbia. The Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako says the danger posed by the Tsah Creek wildfire has prompted an evacuation order for all properties on either side of Highway 27 in the vicinity of Echo Lake and Bearcub FSR. …The district, along with the Saik’uz First Nation, has also ordered evacuation for all properties to the south of the Bobtail Connector and Kluskus Forest Service Roads. And on Sunday afternoon, the district issued an evacuation order due to the Parrot Lookout wildfire. …In the Cariboo Regional District, emergency alerts were issued due to wildfire risks in the Townsend Creek and Branch Road area, and one of those alerts was upgraded to an evacuation order on Sunday.

Residents living in the Ibex Valley area, east of the Takhini River, are now under an evacuation alert due to a wildfire burning near the Takhini River bridge. The Yukon’s Emergency Measures Organization issued the alert late Saturday night. The fire, which was reported at 5 p.m. Saturday, is burning about two kilometres south of the bridge, along the Alaska Highway. A helicopter, two air tankers, the Yukon Fire Marshall SHOT (Special Heavy Operations Team) group and crews from Wildland Fire Management and the Hootalinqua and Ibex Valley Volunteer Fire Departments were dispatched to respond. …As of 1 a.m. on Sunday, the fire had grown to approximately 73 hectares. It was highly visible, with smoke affecting the Ibex Valley and Whitehorse. According to the Department of Community Services, winds were favourable and did not push the fire directly toward the Alaska Highway and residences.

Dozens of lightning-sparked wildfires in the northwest over the weekend have prompted a slew of new evacuation orders and alerts. In Telkwa, properties west of the river accessed off Tatlow Road are being evacuated due to the 23 hectare Powers Creek blaze. South of Houston, on the far west edge of Francois Lake, the 130 hectare Parrot Lookout fire is also prompting an evacuation order. A pair of fires at Sheraton Creek and Stearns Creek in Tintagel are covering a combined 360 hectares. They have evacuation orders in place for the Kager Lake campsite and Boer Mountain Trails, and alerts covering the area between the fires. Now covering 300 hectares, the Tsah Creek fire is also leading to orders for properties on either side of Highway 27 near Echo Lake. More orders are in place for the area around Finger Lake, north of the Provincial Park, due to a 165 hectare blaze.

A gender reveal party gone wrong at Mount Baldy, near Oliver sparked a wildfire that was quickly extinguished by a group of locals. …Rob Iezzi and his friends were alerted to a rapidly-spreading blaze and immediately jumped into action on the afternoon of July 3. …Ironically, Iezzi and his wife, who run the Pink Palace Bed and Breakfast at the Mt. Baldy resort, were hosting their annual Firesmart event on the weekend of the incident. …Iezzi suspects that the fire was started when an explosive target called tannerite was shot during the gender reveal party. “Judging by all the pink powder, it was girl.” …The explosive is considered a Binary Exploding Target …The location of the fire is considered to be a “high” fire danger area. …Iezzi said “I thought it was just common sense not to blow things up in the woods during fire season.”

The Blueberry River First Nations had just started working to rehabilitate swaths of their territory north of Fort St. John from decades of industrial development before the Donnie Creek wildfire sparked by lightning sometime around May 12. Now, Blueberry River Chief Judy Desjarlais is unsure exactly how much of that land is engulfed by a fire that has grown to more than 5,700 square kilometres, almost twice the size of Metro Vancouver. “It felt like this was just kicking us while we were down,” Desjarlais said. “We were just going to get up, and then we were hit again.” The Donnie Creek blaze is officially B.C.’s biggest-ever forest fire and is consuming more than industry-altering amounts of timber. The land is also the traditional territory of the Blueberry River, Prophet River and Doig River First Nations. Desjarlais said elders are watching nervously as important cultural resources are being burned over.

Firefighters are busy battling more than half a dozen brush fires along the Nanaimo Parkway. Multiple fire crews were called out at approximately 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, July 4, to reports of brush fires along the parkway near the Northfield Road intersection. “Police and fire crews responded to multiple reports from witnesses that an unknown man had been seen setting fires along the walking trail that runs parallel to the Nanaimo Parkway,” noted a Nanaimo RCMP press release. An individual was located and taken into police custody at about 12:30 p.m. As many as eight fires have been identified over a two-kilometre stretch both north and south of the Northfield Road intersection.

The nearly seven-hectare Knox Mountain wildfire just north of downtown Kelowna, B.C., is now considered under control, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service. But the park itself will be closed for several more days, according to authorities, even as evacuation alerts related to the fire were lifted on Monday. “The situation will be reassessed on Tuesday,” West Kelowna RCMP Cpl. Judith Bertrand said in a statement on Sunday. …”We’re still dealing with flare-ups and burning tree roots which can cause ember-filled sink holes,” said Sandra Follack, deputy fire chief of the Kelowna Fire Department. …The B.C. Wildfire Service says it suspects human activity caused the Canada Day fire, which was highly visible for those celebrating the occasion along Okanagan Lake. An evacuation order was initially issued for more than 400 properties…but within three hours that was downgraded to an alert, as firefighting helicopters and planes helped bring the fire under control.

The BC Wildfire Service is reporting two new out-of-control wildfires on Vancouver Island. A fire discovered Sunday about 19 kilometres east of Bamfield now measures 12 hectares, fire information officer Gordon Robinson said. 20 firefighting personnel, including in two helicopters and six skimmer air tanks, were responding to the blaze. …The fire is under investigation, so the cause is unknown and “it’s still fairly early, so we don’t have a ton of information on it yet,” said Robinson. Another out-of-control fire, discovered at 1:49 p.m. Monday, is south of Sayward and measures 0.09 hectares. The wildfire service says 14 firefighters, along with helicopter crews, are responding to this fire that’s under investigation.

Alberta saw 56 new wildfires spark across the province over the Canada Day long weekend but wildfire officials say that’s normal for this time of year. Lightning was said to be the known cause of the majority of the new wildfire starts as rain and thunderstorms blanketed much of central Alberta over the weekend. Of the 56 new wildfires, 19 have been confirmed to be started by lightning and 35 remain under investigation. …Widespread smoke emanating from wildfires burning in northern Alberta and B.C prompted Environment Canada to issue a special air quality statement for the city of Edmonton, and much of central Alberta, Monday with forecasters calling for poor air quality and reduced visibility throughout the day. …As of Monday, 107 active wildfires are being reported on the Alberta Wildfire dashboard, 58 of which are listed as being under control, 36 are being held and 13 remain out of control.