Category Archives: Forest Fires

More than 1,500 properties in B.C.’s Cariboo region are under an evacuation order issued Wednesday because of wildfires in the area, while other fires are threatening the communities of Ashcroft and Cache Creek. The Cariboo Regional District issued an order Wednesday for 1,074 properties in the area from Flat Lake to Green Lake, south of 100 Mile House. Another order covers 482 properties to the east, from Canim Lake to Mahood Lake. … The entire community of 100 Mile House and people in the nearby Horse Lake area are now under evacuation alerts. There are roughly 2,000 people living in 100 Mile. The Horse Lake bulletin covers 3,086 properties. … There are seven wildfires of note burning in the Cariboo region. The largest are around Flat Lake and Canim Lake. … [C]onditions in the region are not expected to improve in the coming days.

The Cutoff Creek wildfire, southwest of Fraser Lake is proving difficult to contain. It is the largest of the seven fires of note within the Prince George Fire Centre at over 10,300 hectares.Fire Information Officer, Alex Lane [says]“Crews are encountering extreme fire behaviour, which is challenging those suppression efforts.” In addition, the Mount Porter, Black Pine, Klawli Lake, and Forres Mountain, which are all west and south of PG are still considered out of control. Klawli Lake’s wildfire is just over six thousand hectares and remains out of control … In addition, the Camsell Lake wildfire, west of Fort Saint James continues to burn out of control at 188 hectares. As a result, the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako in conjunction with the Yekooche First Nation and BC Parks has issued an Evacuation Order.

The Sparks Lake fire remains the largest wildfire in B.C. as the BC Wildfire Service deals with a growing number of blazes across B.C. Fire information officer Hannah Swift said on July 14 that the fire remains estimated at 40,267 hectares in size, though there has been growth that cannot yet be measured due to heavy smoke from the flames. The out of control fire, suspected to be human-caused, was ignited on June 28 about 15 kilometres north of the west end of Kamloops Lake and about 40 kilometres northwest of Kamloops. Since then, the fire has grown in several directions, including southeast toward Frederick, the off-the-grid community of 32 cabins on the north shore of Kamloops Lake, directly across from Tobiano and about 20 kilometres east of Kamloops Airport. Swift said there are 90 firefighters, 10 helicopters and 58 pieces of heavy equipment working the fire, in addition to 109 support personnel …

Fire Information Officer Jessica Mack says the fire is on the east side of Soda Creek Road. “That one is estimated to be about one hectare in size.  Air tankers have actioned that fire and we do have aircraft and personnel that are working to suppress that fire right now.” Mack says there are currently 70 active wildfires within the Cariboo. That total includes 10 in both the Williams Lake and Quesnel fire zones, and 8 in the Chilcotin. Most though, 42, are still within the 100 Mile House fire zone. Mack says they have seen increased fire activity over the past couple of days, even to the point where personnel had to be pulled back on the Big Stick Lake wildfire due to safety concerns. …Mack says the estimated size on that one is about 750 hectares. …The Purdy Lake wildfire, south of Batnuni Lake, is now up to an estimated 2,800 hectares in size.

A new evacuation order has been issued as the largest wildfire in British Columbia continues to challenge efforts to bring it under control.  The B.C. Wildfire Service said the Sparks Lake fire north of Kamloops has burned 402 square kilometres and flames on one of its flanks surged toward control lines Monday. Information officer Taylor Colman with the wildfire service said hot and dry weather conditions are causing concern as firefighters battle the flames.  “So, I think there is potential for it to keep growing,” she said in an interview Tuesday.  The service has 125 firefighters, 10 helicopters and 50 pieces of heavy equipment fighting the fire.  …Premier John Horgan said he has been talking to the prime minister about bringing in the Armed Forces to help clear debris from forest floors to reduce the incidence of fires, which is one of the recommendations following the 2003 wildfires.

It’s dry — really dry —and we haven’t even hit what’s normally the summer drought period on Vancouver Island. “We usually expect dry conditions in summer but not as early as they started this year,” says Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sekhon. “Seeing such dry conditions in June and early July is unusual for sure because it’s not usually until later July and into August that we have our driest period.” Greater Victoria and most of eastern Vancouver Island is now at drought Level 4 — that’s higher than the Okanagan — and adverse impacts on fish are now very likely here and in most of Southwestern B.C. …The tinder-dry conditions mean all of Vancouver Island is facing a high or extreme wildfire risk and we’ve already had almost double the number of fires.

A wildfire that broke out Friday night near a north Vancouver Island community is now under control. Multiple fire departments responded to the fire that broke out near the community of Woss, which also knocked out power for thousands of BC Hydro customers. A statement on the BC Hydro website said, “Logging equipment had damaged a transmission line, causing a power outage for 7,200 customers on Northern Vancouver Island, including Port Hardy, Port McNeill, Alert Bay, and Fort Rupert.” …The fire is currently under control as of Saturday morning, according to BCWS. They say fire crews will remain on the scene and they are hoping to have the fire completely out at the end of the day Saturday.

A section of the Robert Campbell Highway in Yukon has been closed due to a nearby forest fire.  According to the Yukon government’s highways and public works department, the closure stretches from kilometre 10 to kilometre 360, between Watson Lake and Ross River. Yukon’s wildfire map shows a 1,300-hectare fire burning at the Tuchitua River near the highway.  The fire is classified as out of control, and is expected to reach the highway itself at some point on Thursday near the junction of Nahanni Range Road. … A number of areas, including Teslin, Whitehorse, and Faro, also remain under an extreme level of fire risk. 

The lightning storm that rolled through the B.C. Interior on Wednesday temporarily grounded helicopters fighting the Mckay Creek wildfire north of Lillooet. The BC Wildfire Service says 15 helicopters are back in the sky today, supporting ground crews in the battle against the 24,255-hectare blaze that has forced evacuation alerts and orders in the area. Crews conducted a number of successful planned ignitions Wednesday to eliminate fuel between the fire perimeter and guards. … While Wednesday’s lightning temporarily grounded BCWS helicopters, the storm brought 5-10 mm of rain to the fire. … A total of 165 personnel are fighting the fire situated 11.5 kilometres north of Lillooet.

Crews continue to battle three ‘wildfires of note’ in the Prince George Fire Centre, as dryer than normal conditions are forecasted to persist across B.C. The largest in the Prince George Fire Centre is still the Chilako fire, west of Finger-Tatuk Provincial Park, discovered on July 1. It is burning an estimated 1,471 hectares. …Resources fighting this fire include 55 firefighters, 4 helicopters, and 26 pieces of heavy equipment. The second wildfire of note is the Cutoff Creek fire, just north of Knewstubb Lake and a 123-kilometre drive south of Fraser Lake.  Discovered on July 2, the fire has grown from a reported 886.4 hectares to 1,215 hectares. …The third wildfire of note is the Tentfire Creek wildfire, discovered July 1, near Murray Forest Service Road and southwest of Tumber Ridge, burning at approximately 715 hectares.

BC Wildfire Service is expecting heightened wildfire activity to continue well into July, due to fuel dryness conditions that came earlier in the summer than normal. A monthly seasonal outlook report released July 5 indicates the Southern Interior only received 30 per cent of normal June rainfall, as temperatures climbed steadily culminating in a historic heatwave province-wide. “Select areas within the Kamloops Fire Centre are experiencing record moisture deficits. Widespread thunderstorms recently delivered more lightning than rain with the only significant rainfall amounts being confined to the northeast corner of B.C … Delayed lightning starts from dry lightning are anticipated in the coming weeks.” Monthly forecasts for July indicate warmer and drier than normal conditions will continue. Grass and other surface fuels has been drying quickly, meaning wildfire behaviour will be “more typical of mid-July or August conditions.”

Kane Blake

Never has there been a greater sense of urgency behind a campfire ban.  But for a certain portion of the population, it just doesn’t sink in.  And that’s why Kane Blake and his Okanagan Forest Task Force have been busy finding and reporting violators.   For much of the year, the focus for the OFTF is cleaning up the garbage left behind by thoughtless individuals.  But come fire season, they’re on the hunt for people willing to put us all at risk by defying the current ban on campfires, and lately, they’re finding a bunch.  “A lot more than we should be,” said Blake. “Last week alone we found three on the weekend, and last night, this one.”  Blake is referring to a fire his group discovered just off Postill Lake Road. …Blake explained the group’s policy to avoid confrontations with violators.

B.C. government ministers say any decision about declaring a state of emergency over wildfires in the Interior will be made on the advice of emergency management officials.  The current advice is that a state of emergency is not needed, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth told reporters Tuesday, as more than 200 wildfires burn across the province following a record-breaking heat wave.  “When they tell me it’s now time to move into that provincial state of emergency, then it is time to,” he said.  Farnworth, Premier John Horgan and Forests Minister Katrine Conroy spoke with the media after meeting Tuesday with representatives of Lytton, B.C., in the neighbouring community of Lillooet, following a wildfire that destroyed Lytton and left at least two people dead.  They also flew over the devastation in Lytton, where Horgan said there is “literally nothing left.”

Air tankers are dropping a retardant line between the Canim Lake wildfire and homes in the area. BC Wildfire Service information officer Jessica Mack said the move is a “preventive measure to make sure homes stay safe right now.” A heavy-lift helicopter is also dropping water on the wildfire, which has grown to 700 hectares in size. …The Cariboo Regional District has expanded an evacuation alert in the Canim Lake and Forest Grove area, due to the 700-hectare Canim Lake fire. …“This is as a precaution due to the predicted weather forecast of erratic winds and thunderstorms,” Wagner said in a newsletter to her constituents. “Please take this time to prepare for a possible evacuation order, should it become necessary.”