Category Archives: Forest Fires

VANCOUVER—Lightning strikes caused 145 new wildfires to ignite across the province on Saturday, according to the BC Wildfire Service, with an additional 17 fire starts by early Sunday afternoon. That brings the number of active blazes up to 595 in the province, said Kevin Skrepnek, chief fire information officer. “There were mostly small spot-sized fires,” he explained. “Given how widespread the fires are, all six of our fire centres are fully engaged.” There are 40 fires of note, including the 13,000-hectare Snowy Mountain fire near Keremeos and the 180-hectare Nanaimo Lakes fire 13 kilometres south of Nanaimo. One man was killed fighting the blaze earlier this week. The southern third of the province saw the “vast majority” of new wildfire starts.

As firefighters battled a forest fire close to Horseshoe Bay Thursday, one local resident described the firefighting efforts as the hand of God releasing a ball of red over the blaze. Gleneagles resident Jody Lotzkar was on his roof taking photos of the fire that started Wednesday night and the aircraft fighting it, and said it looked like the aircraft had a fist with an arm attached to it and the hand opened, dropping a ball of red – fire retardant – onto the fire.  … On Thursday, there were 15 fire fighters on the ground as well as helicopters and aerial tankers, said West Vancouver assistant fire chief Jeff Bush. Metro Vancouver Emergency Response was taking the lead on fighting the blaze.

As two major fires merged in northwest B.C. overnight, firefighters have had to contend with several new blazes that popped up in the southeast and the Okanagan region. Three significant new wildfires were ignited Thursday in the southeastern corner of the province, including a 35-hectare blaze just 10 kilometres from the Salmo-area site of the Shambhala Music Festival — an annual electronic music event that was threatened by wildfire last year. The B.C. Wildfire Service says the festival isn’t in any immediate danger this year, unlike in 2017, when its grounds were placed on evacuation alert.  Large new wildfires are also burning northwest of Creston, within two kilometres of Highway 3, and northwest of Radium. Two evacuation alerts have been issued in connection with the three southeastern blazes, including one for the McArthur Creek area, southeast of Salmo, and another for the Cross River/Nipika Mountain Resort areas.

Two large fires burning in northern B.C. have merged into one, now covering some 300 square kilometres near the Telegraph Creek area. The merged Alkali Lake and South Stikine River fires have so far destroyed 32 buildings in and around the Tahltan First Nation, with up to 45 per cent of the remaining buildings damaged by fire. “Most of the structures were family homes, both on and outside of the reserve,” said Chad Norman Day, president of the Tahltan Central Government. “It’s going to take years to rebuild what’s been lost, and it’s going to take decades for the land to be restored to where it was before, because we’ve lost a lot of forests.” Day’s own family ranch, which has been passed down generations, was damaged in the fire. “That’s been quite devastating for us, but at least our home is safe,” he said.

More wildfires are burning in British Columbia in 2018 than in past years but the total amount of timber burned is well below average, a wildfire official says. “It’s very difficult to directly compare one fire season to another just based on the statistics alone, because the stats only tell part of the full story,” said Ryan Turcot, spokesman for the BC Wildfire Service. Across the province, 476 wildfires were burning Thursday, including 39 new fires sparked the previous day, while 1,565 have been recorded so far this year, well above the average of 1,130 expected by this point in the season, Turcot said.  “In terms of area burned, we are still sitting at about 75 per cent of what the average would be for this time of year,” Turcot noted. … “But that doesn’t …factor in things like the human impact of wildfires, the proximity … to communities or to people and property,” Turcot said.

PRINCE GEORGE – The Chutanli Lake fire southwest of Prince George exploded Tuesday to 1,500 hectares. On Wednesday, it grew to 1,800 hectares. Crews and equipment were forced to retreat as the fire jumped the Kluskus Forest Service Road.  Wildfire BC officials say it’s being fueled by strong winds and hot, dry conditions.  The Cariboo Regional District has issued an expanded evacuation alert around the blaze.  …It is the same story for the Shovel Lake fire northwest of Fraser Lake.  It burst through containment lines …growing from 5,400 hectares to more than 6,800  hectares. …Nearly 140 firefighters and support staff are battling the flames along with 14 helicopters and 51 pieces of heavy equipment. Meantime the Chief of the Tahltan First Nation says a wildfire has destroyed 27 structures in the Telegraph Creek area.  Chief Rick McLean estimates the fire has ripped through 30 to 45 percent of buildings in the remote community southwest of Dease Lake.

A cooling trend is forecast for B.C., but provincial firefighting officials say the change in the weather is likely to be accompanied by intense lightning capable of igniting more forest fires. Kevin Skrepnek, B.C.’s chief fire information officer, said Wednesday the heat should let up across the province by Friday, but with that comes forecasts of thunderstorms, lightning strikes and only small amounts of rain. He said the amount of rain in the most recent forecast is between three and five millimetres, which is not enough to ease the extreme fire conditions across B.C. “The real day we are focusing on right now is Friday,” he said from Kamloops. “We do expect a pretty dramatic shift in the weather.” …”Unfortunately, the cold front that is going to bring about increased winds and… some thunderstorm activity with it,” he said. “We are bracing for it to be a challenging day.”

It was late to start, but what British Columbia’s wildfire season has lacked in length it’s more than made up for in intensity. As of Wednesday, there were 460 wildfires burning across B.C., 25 of them large “fires of note,” according to the B.C. Wildfire Service; that’s more active fires than any single day of 2017’s record fire season. “All the way from the U.S. border right up to almost the border of the Panhandle with Alaska, we’ve got fires of note,” said B.C. Forests Minister Doug Donaldson. There have been 1,502 fires since April 1 that have burned about 101,000 hectares of land at a cost of $131 million. About 2,700 people are engaged in firefighting efforts across B.C., including more than 100 out-of-province wildfire personnel. More are expected in the coming days, including personnel from Quebec, where the fire situation has improved.

The Nanaimo Lakes wildfire is still growing, but firefighters are getting a better handle on that growth. The fire southwest of the city grew to 179 hectares as of Wednesday evening, but it’s now considered 25 per cent contained, according to B.C. Wildfire Services. Donna MacPherson, with the Coastal Fire Centre, said the fire “held really well” on three sides during Wednesday’s firefighting. …“They’ve been focusing on the sides that could impact people the most … They’ve basically been able to get around on the west and the south and the east sides and now they’re trying to work toward the north. That’s the hard part because of the terrain.” …MacPherson said the message the fire centre really wants to get out is for members of the public to “smarten up,” as the Nanaimo fire and two fires that broke out in the Alberni Valley are all suspected to have been human-caused.

A wildfire at Nanaimo Lakes is spreading, evading the efforts of fire crews and sending some residents fleeing. …The Regional District of Nanaimo has issued evacuation orders and evacuation alerts to people living near the out-of-control wildfire, just southwest of the city of Nanaimo. “The fire is still considered out of control. It’s pretty dynamic right now,” said Natasha Broznitsky, a public information officer for the Coastal Fire Centre. …It is burning on a mix of Crown and private forestry land, covering about 160 hectares … and spreading in a west to northwest direction, “which is good news for a small rural community east of the fire,” Broznitsky said. “We don’t want the fire to move a lot farther to the east.” …Bill Sims, director of engineering and public works for Nanaimo, said the border of the fire poses a grave concern for the city’s water treatment plant about five kilometres away.

Telegraph Creek residents were told today that 27 structures have been lost in a “volatile and aggressive wildfire” in northern B.C. Evacuation Orders and Alerts are in effect for the Alkali Lake wildfire, first sparked on Aug. 1 about five kilometres northwest of Telegraph Creek. The Tahltan Band held a meeting today at the Dease Lake Community Hall where residents were informed the fire has caused 35-40 per cent structural loss. “Our town has sustained significant damages,” said Chief Rick Mclean in Tuesday morning’s meeting, before he took a moment to compose himself. “But, there is no life lost.

Two more communities were ordered evacuated Sunday as wildfires continue to threaten properties in northwestern British Columbia. The B.C. Wildfire Service said 25 fires are currently burning in the Cassiar fire zone, including the Alkali and Elbow Lake wildfires. The Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine ordered the evacuation of Telegraph Creek and the surrounding areas due to the Alkali Lake fire, which is now 2,000 hectares in size and growing. Homes in the Elbow Lake area were also ordered evacuated because of the Elbow Creek fire, which covers 450 hectares. Residents of both communities were told to leave their homes immediately and go to a reception centre at the People’s Haven at Stikine Street in Dease Lake, across the street from the Dease Lake Community Hall.

An evacuation order was issued Sunday evening for part of British Columbia’s Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako as a nearby wildfire rages on. Regional Board Chair Bill Miller said an intense lightning storm in the area last week ignited dozens of blazes, prompting the regional district to order the evacuation. He said the fires near Purvis and Nadina lakes that prompted evacuation orders have not put many people or properties at risk, though he didn’t have a specific estimate of how many people were affected. …Kyla Fraser with the BC Wildfire Service said most of the lightning has passed for now, but the long-term effects of last week’s storm may be felt for weeks as hundreds of fires broke out, stretching the province’s resources thin. She continued, saying the out-of-province firefighting aid requested last week was expected to arrive Monday night and will then be directed toward the highest-priority fires.

Campers in the Nanaimo Lakes area faced a harrowing escape from a wildfire on Monday. …The Nanaimo Lakes wildfire has grown to 75 hectares and is burning out of control. It is one of dozens of wildfires deemed out of control as hot and dry weather continues to grip much of the province. The Nanaimo Lakes fire, discovered Sunday, is on Crown land and privately managed forest land. At first, it was about two hectares, but extremely dry and hot weather conditions “preheated the fuel and allowed the fire to burn more easily,” said Natasha Broznitsky, a public information officer for the Coastal Fire Centre. …The fire is the largest on Vancouver Island. It is believed to be human-caused, but the exact reason has not been determined. 

Think twice before bypassing campfire bans, flying drones or recreational boats near wildfires this weekend as firefighters work on the frontlines of more than 300 blazes burning across B.C. That’s the message from the province to campers and outdoor enthusiasts, who are being asked to avoid the top three most common issues that either cause fires or prevent the experts from fighting them. “The men and women of the BC Wildfire Service are working long hours in sometimes very difficult conditions, so I’m asking everyone to do their part to prevent wildfires and not add to their workload,” Forestry Minister Doug Donaldson said. So far this year, BC Wildfire Service personnel have responded to 1,260 wildfires. About 340 of those, or 27 per cent, were caused by people.

Wildfire crews and the Keremeos Fire Department have been called to the end of Beecroft River Road in Cawston where a one-hectare fire is burning after the Snowy Mountain wildfire reportedly jumped over the Similkameen River at 10 p.m. “Due to strong winds coming downslope tonight up to 50 km/h, fire activity continues to be highly vigorous,” a post on the BC Wildfire Service website said. “The fire has spotted across the Similkameen River to the east side in an oxbow along the riverbank.” “Crews are responding to right now in conjunction with the Keremeos Fire Department and heavy equipment is en route.” There is no word on evacuations from the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen at this time.