Category Archives: Forest Fires

Properties near Chetwynd in British Columbia’s Peace region are under an evacuation alert after a wildfire discovered Sunday grew to seven square kilometres. The Mount Wartenbe wildfire is already considered a wildfire of note by the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS), meaning it’s highly visible or a potential threat to public safety. It’s burning near Lone Prairie, about 20 kilometres southeast of Chetwynd and 80 kilometres southwest of Fort St. John. On Monday, the Peace River Regional District put in place an evacuation alert for two dozen addresses along with properties in the vicinity of Highway 97, west of Chetwynd Pulp Mill Road and east of the Guillet subdivision. The alert means residents should be prepared to leave their properties on short notice should the fire expand.

CHETWYND, B.C. – The B.C. Wildfire Service is responding to a wildfire that started Sunday afternoon southeast of Chetwynd.  The fire was reported to the fire service just after 4 p.m. Sunday, and as of 8 p.m., it was already 70 hectares. By Monday evening, the fire had burned over 700 hectares.  The Peace River Regional District issued an evacuation alert for an area near the fire. The alert includes properties near Highway 97 (West of Chetwynd Pulp Mill Rd and East of Guillet Sub) and certain properties on Rimsmith Rd.  The Wildfire Service believes the fire was naturally caused and has initiated a full response. During a full response, a wildfire is suppressed and controlled until it is deemed “out.” There are nine type one firefighters being assisted by three helicopters on scene.

After five months of fighting wildfires and battling smoke that choked B.C. residents throughout the spring and summer the BC Wildfire Service is on the verge of declaring the end of one of its busiest, most intense fire seasons, even though large fires continue to burn in the Prince George fire centre region. Two fires that continue to burn out of control are close to Prince George. The Great Beaver Lake fire is about 64 kilometres northwest of the city, while the Tatuk Lake fire is about 73 km southwest. The North Lucas Lake fire is in a remote area, 48 km south of Fraser Lake. There are two other large fires in BC – Big Creek (91 km northwest of Mackenzie) and Gatcho Lake (140 km southwest of Vanderhoof). BCWS unit crews and initial attack remain on the scene monitoring those fires.

Most of the District of Peachland along the west side of Okanagan Lake is now on evacuation alert as drought, heat and windy conditions in southern British Columbia fuel the late-season Glen Lake wildfire. The Central Okanagan Regional District expanded evacuation alerts Monday as the BC Wildfire Service said the suspected human-caused blaze had grown to nearly eight square kilometres after being sparked on Saturday. …A break for firefighters could come as clouds and cooler temperatures are forecast for the region, along with a special weather statement from Environment Canada warning of up to four centimetres of snow along higher elevations of Highway 97C, which marks the northern boundary of the Glen Lake fire evacuation zone. In the central Interior, the Cariboo Regional District has replaced an evacuation order with an alert for communities around Horn Lake affected by the 163-square kilometre Hell Raving wildfire…

BC Parks has formally closed Eneas Lakes and Darke Lake provincial parks due to the nearby Glen Lake wildfire. Central Okanagan Emergency Operations says officials are not expecting any additional evacuation alerts or orders tonight within the RDCO or District of Peachland.n“However the fire expanded southward impacting the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and BC Parks,” emergency officials say. …The Glen Lake wildfire, estimated at 763 hectares in size, is burning about six kilometres from Peachland’s limits. “Today, helicopters bucketed the northeast side of the fire and structural protection units were deployed in Peachland neighbourhoods. Cooler temperatures, less wind and higher relative humidity aided the fire fight,” said Central Okanagan Emergency Operations. BC Wildfire Service information officer Evan Lizotte could not say exactly how much rain fell on the wildfire site Tuesday.

PEACHLAND, B.C. – An evacuation order has been issued for eight recreational properties due to the Glen Lake Wildfire, about 15 kilometres west of Peachland, B.C. The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre says it also issued an evacuation alert for all areas south of Peachland Forest Service Road. …In Central B.C., another evacuation order was issued by Cariboo Regional District for 28 properties in the Horn Lake Area. This comes as the BC Wildfire Service says fire behaviour on the nearby Hell Raving Creek blaze, which is now 114-square kilometres in size, has increased due to strong winds. …Late Sunday, the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen issued an evacuation alert due to the threat from the Upper Park Rill wildfire. That alert covered properties along the west side of Willowbrook Road from 2592 Willowbrook Road, north to the south side of Orofino Road.

Increased fire behavior is expected for the northern parts of the Grande Prairie Forest area. This is due in part to a lack of rain in needed locations. There are currently nine wildfires burning in the area, including a 7 hectare fire near the Saddle Hills forestry tower. Firefighters have responded to the blaze, performing multiple air tanker drops, placing containment lines and slowing the growth of the fire, but the risk to the area is still considered to be high.

British Columbia’s state of emergency ended Thursday just under four weeks after ferocious wildfires ripped through several communities, burning homes and businesses and forcing thousands to escape. The B.C. government said in a statement the wildfire risk is diminishing in much of the province as temperatures cool, allowing most residents to return home. Bowinn Ma, the minister of emergency management, said while the provincial state of emergency is no longer required, the wildfire season isn’t over, and many communities still have local states of emergency. Ma said in a statement the expiration of the emergency declaration doesn’t affect wildfire-fighting resources or their ability to continue to provide emergency supports to communities. …The centre says about 350 properties are still under evacuation order and close to 5,000 are on evacuation alert as the fire remains out of control, nearly a month after it was reported.

As an out-of-control wildfire still burns near West Kelowna, officials say evacuated residents should brace themselves for a return to neighbourhoods they may no longer recognize. As people continue to return home or begin rebuilding , officials from the Regional District of Central Okanagan say crews are still busy addressing the aftermath of the McDougall Creek wildfire and also issued a reminder that affected residents are not walking that road alone. …Elsewhere in B.C., the latest evacuation order issued due to a wildfire covers a rural area north of Prince George. The regional districts of Fraser-Fort George and Bulkley-Nechako issued the order Monday night as the 10-square kilometre Ocock Lake blaze moves toward properties in the Noonlang Lake area, about 150 kilometres north of Prince George. …The BC Wildfire Service reported Tuesday that close to 400 active blazes are burning across the province, with 158 ranked as out of control.

About 1,200 British Columbians are still under evacuation orders and more than 34,000 are under alert as the province’s record-breaking wildfire season abates. As of Wednesday, 392 wildfires still burned across B.C., 10 of which threaten public safety or are highly visible. By contrast, this time last year, there were 188 wildfires burning and five wildfires of note. …gusty winds and warm temperatures are expected to continue in the north, challenging already exhausted firefighters. Temperatures in many parts of B.C. were up to three degrees above normal last month, and as September progresses, the north is experiencing “anomalous conditions.” “Our drought values have just been persistently getting worse and particularly in the north,” said Neal McLoughlin of the Provincial Wildfire Coordination Centre in Kamloops in a Wednesday press conference. “We do expect to see those dry conditions will persist through the fall. A key message here is our forest fuels will remain available to burn.”

The latest evacuation order issued due to a wildfire in British Columbia covers a rural area around 150 kilometres north of Prince George.  The regional districts of Fraser-Fort George and Bulkley-Nechako issued the order Monday night as the 10-square kilometre Ocock Lake blaze moves toward properties in the Noonlang Lake area, about 150 kilometres north of Prince George.  Several other orders and alerts in the province have been downgraded, including in the Kelowna area.  The B.C. Wildfire Service also announced Tuesday that the Rossmoore Lake wildfire south of Kamloops is now being held — which means it is not likely to spread beyond existing containment lines.  The blaze had led to numerous evacuation orders covering hundreds of people in and around the central Interior city earlier this summer. Firefighters are expected to remain onsite, however, to maintain existing protections.

More than two dozen structures have been destroyed by the Kookipi Creek wildfire, which has been burning out of control in southwest BC since it was discovered in early July. The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) said the fire destroyed a total of 27 properties, including six homes, in communities along Highway 1 north of Hope, BC. The other structures were recreational properties and service buildings, it said. …The fire is believed to have been ignited by lightning, is now estimated to be 180 square kilometres in size. It resulted in evacuation orders and alerts, including in the Village of Lytton, which was destroyed by fire in 2021. Residents in the FVRD, Thompson-Nicola Regional District, Lytton First Nation, Skuppah Indian Band and Kanaka Bar Indian Band were also ordered to evacuate their homes due to the fire, which forced the closure of Highway 1 for two weeks in August.

On Vancouver Island, there are currently 31 active wildfires, with 20 burning out of control. Of the out-of-control fires, Coastal Fire says most will be left to burn until they run out of fuel or are put out by fall rain. Coastal Fire says there are 11 active wildfires on Vancouver Island that are under control or being held as of Thursday. Most of the out-of-control wildfires are located within Strathcona Provincial Park in remote areas. …“These are naturally-caused wildfires, this is lightning-caused, and this has a place in our ecosystem in terms of resiliency and biodiversity. So there are two scenarios here, one where the response is modified, or monitor-only because this is burning in high elevation and steep terrain, and there’s actually no workable objectives for our responders,” said Kimberly Kelly, fire information officer with Coastal Fire Centre.

Some evacuation orders have been downgraded for the Kookipi Creek and Stein Mountain wildfires. The Fraser Valley Regional District said Monday (Sept. 4) that evacuation orders in the Nahatlatch River area and Boston Bar had been downgraded to alerts. The east side of the Fraser River and the Canyon Alpine area remain on alert. “While the Evacuation Order is being downgraded, areas within the Evacuation Alert remain hazardous from poor road conditions, danger trees, post-fire hazards and other risks,” reads the notice from the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD). The danger of wildfire may reoccur (caused by new ignitions, lightning strikes, or a change in the prevailing winds, for example) and an Evacuation Order may need to be reissued.”

Residents making plans to head back to Yellowknife, Dettah and Ndilǫ this week can expect to see fires in the area flare up in the coming weeks, says the N.W.T.’s minister of environment and climate change. The fire between Yellowknife and Behchokǫ̀, as well as the one along the Ingraham Trail, are being held, according to N.W.T. Fire. That means they are no longer considered to be out of control, but they aren’t completely under control either. …Minister Shane Thompson said there had been more than 220 hot spots on the fire between Yellowknife and Behchokǫ̀, and 160 on the Ingraham Trail fire. He said those those fires will continue to flare up “until probably the first snowfall.” …N.W.T. Fire said 25 millimetres of rain had fallen in Hay River. The rain and favourable winds were expected to reduce the fire risk in the community in the coming days.

As nights become longer and the heat of summer begins to ebb, so too does the threat of lightning sparking new wildfires. But that’s prompted the B.C. government to urge residents to take care not to extend what’s been a record-breaking fire season. Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston said that while most wildfires over the summer months are caused by lightning, the majority of fires that start in September or beyond are caused by people. …The warning comes amid encouraging news that two of the three wildfires that destroyed almost 200 homes around Okanagan Lake are now under control. …So far this wildfire season there have been 2,032 fires, with 417 currently active, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS). Of the total, 1,458 were caused by lightning, 450 were caused by people and the other 124 have an unknown cause, the service says.

YELLOWKNIFE — Fire activity along a key Northwest Territories highway is expected to kick up in the coming days, while Mounties say they’ll stop a potentially large group from trying to re-enter when an evacuation order is still in effect. The territorial government says Highway 1, which links up with Alberta, is open to essential travel but could close without warning due to poor visibility. It’s expected the highway will close to all traffic between Friday and Sunday due to high winds, meaning there has been a pause on bringing back essential workers not in health care. “Residents likely heard the re-entry for Yellowknife essential staff was paused due to looming highway closures north of the Alberta border. While we are one step closer to going back home, we still have to wait a little bit longer,” said Environment and Climate Change Minister Shane Thompson at a Thursday briefing.

Additional coverage in by the Canadian Press: Northwest Territories extend State of Emergency another 2 weeks

CTV News by Natasha O’Neill: ‘Severe wind event’ expected in Hay River has crews bracing for the worst

Two of the wildfires burning in the N.W.T.’s North Slave region are now classified as “being held” — and experts say the change has to do with controls around the perimeters. The fire between Yellowknife and Behchokǫ̀, as well as the fire near the Ingraham Trail, are still burning large areas of land — more than 167,000 and 50,000 hectares, respectively — but the new classification means officials expect the fires won’t grow beyond controlled boundaries, according to terms defined by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC). Phane Ray, incident commander for the fires in the North Slave Complex, said in a Monday news conference that cooler temperatures and a little bit of rain created opportunities for firefighting crews. …Ray said crews are working 50 metres into the fire and that’s eliminating the potential for flames to spread back toward the community.

The B.C. government has spent more than half a billion dollars so far this year fighting a historically bad wildfire season, and that number is expected to continue to rise in the coming weeks as hundreds of blazes continue to burn.  B.C. Forestry Minister Bruce Ralston said during a news conference on Monday afternoon that the price tag for 2023 wildland firefighting costs to date is about $585 million.  Despite that eye-popping figure, Ralston said Victoria is not concerned about running out of money.  “There is no financial challenge to the province — the money is there,” he said. “Whatever it takes to protect people and property, the money is there.”  Cliff Chapman, director of operations for the BC Wildfire Service, said the two biggest line items on the agency’s budget are aircraft and personnel.

Lightning strikes have sparked dozens of new wildfires in British Columbia — including 18 on the Island — as thunderstorms brought mixed blessings to the province’s battle against its worst fire season on record.  A forecast of rain promised relief for some wildfire zones in the south and Interior, but lightning associated with the storms triggered most of the 47 new blazes recorded in the past day, pushing the total number of fires in the province above 400 on Tuesday.  Thirty-seven lightning-caused fires started in the Coastal fire region, including Vancouver Island, but there were also new lightning-related blazes in the Kamloops and Prince George regions.  …Eighteen wildfires on Vancouver Island were linked to lightning strikes on Monday and through Tuesday afternoon. …There were 417 wildfires burning in B.C. Tuesday afternoon, including 197 classified as out of control and 12 “wildfires of note,” meaning they’re highly visible or pose a threat to public safety.

ALBERTA – The fire danger south of Lake Athabasca is going from high to very high, while the hazard north of Lake Athabasca is listed as Extreme. The Wood Buffalo Complex fire remains out of control and has grown to over 471,000 hectares. The blaze is now 3.1 kilometers from Fort Fitzgerald and 3.4 kilometers from Fort Smith. There are 376 personnel which includes 86 pieces of heavy equipment, 24 helicopters, and 150 firefighters and structure protection personnel responding to the Wood Buffalo Complex. …A fire advisory is in effect for the entire Fort McMurray Forest Area. Under this advisor, existing fire permits are still valid but may be suspended or canceled if warm, dry weather continues.

Lightning from thunderstorms Monday on Vancouver Island sparked a series of wildfires in Strathcona Park. Coastal Fire Centre information officer Kimberly Kelly said there were five small fires spread around the park by mid-afternoon, including one burning close to Highway 28 near Gold River. Firefighters were focusing on the latter fire, with two helicopters involved in fighting the blaze, Kelly said. Others were in steep, inaccessible terrain and were only being monitored, she said. Kelly said while Monday’s thunderstorms were accompanied by rain in some cases, that’s no reason to relax when it comes to being careful outdoors after a stretch of hot, dry weather. “The drought conditions are going to persist for quite some time.” Monday’s thunderstorm warning, which included a chance of large hail, damaging winds and torrential rainfall, covered an area from Port Alberni to Lake Cowichan and northward almost to Port McNeill, said Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan.

Additional BC coverage in CTV News: Lightning sparks out-of-control wildfires on Vancouver Island

The latest on the wildfires in BC: The Central Okanagan Emergency Operation Centre says new assessments have revealed 189 structures were burned by the McDougall Creek wildfire, up from 181. The province says 8,000 properties continue to be under an evacuation order due to wildfires, while 54,000 are under an evacuation alert. Officials in B.C.’s Shuswap began notifying residents Monday about properties affected by the Bush Creek East wildfire. People in B.C.’s northwest are once again watching fires closely as the the Village of Witset issued an evacuation alert. Air quality advisories stemming from wildfire smoke remain in effect for B.C.’s South Coast and southern Interior, along with a severe thunderstorm watch for Vancouver Island. The B.C. Wildfire Service says from April 1, it’s spent an estimated $585 million on fire suppression efforts.

Yellowknife, Ndılǫ, Dettah, Ingraham Trail – “These fires remain out-of-control. Although these fires are not progressing as dramatically as others in the NWT, that does not mean the danger has passed,” the wildfire agency stated, using capitals. …“Winds should ease later tonight, but temperatures are expected to hit a record high on Monday to the mid-twenties, well above seasonal averages. …Hay River, KFN, Enterprise – The fire near Hay River jumped Highway 2 near the intersection with Highway 5 on Sunday, during what NWT Fire called a “very active” day. …Fort Smith – The fire hopped across parts of some containment lines yesterday and crews are working to contain that along the Foxholes Road, an area east of Connie’s Road near Highway 5, and on the south side of Highway 5 between Thebacha Road and Bell Rock.

Additional coverage in CTV News by Noushin Ziafati: ‘Preparing for the worst, hoping for the best’: Evacuation order issued in Hay River, N.W.T.

SALMON ARM, BC — Highway 1 has reopened. Drivers using this highway are not permitted to stop where evacuation alerts and orders are in place. Spokesperson Derek Sutherland said wildlife is posing a problem as food begins to rot in people’s homes where the power has been out for several days. “We’ve placed garbage bins at Scotch Creek Market, Celista Fire Hall, and the Ross Creek Store to facilitate the removal.” …Fire behaviour above Sorrento is expected to increase and flames are visible from the highway. “We have some bridges burnt out on the Adams Lake Road, or Holding Road… That bridge is being open by the Ministry of Transportation in the evening between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., but closed during the day while crews are working on it. Squilax-Anglemont Road remains shut down for safety. …The Bush Creek East wildfire has destroyed 131 structures and damaged another 37. 

The BC Wildfire Service says the West Kelowna, B.C., fire department is returning to “normal day-to-day operations,” 10 days after a fast-moving wildfire forced thousands to flee and went on to destroy more than 170 homes in the area. It says an additional 1,800 people have been allowed to return home this weekend as evacuation orders are lifted. …The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre says 1,588 properties remain on evacuation order in West Kelowna and 1,114 remain on order in rural areas of the regional district as well as on Westbank First Nation lands. The McDougall Creek wildfire, responsible for much of the destruction in the West Kelowna area, continues to burn out of control over 123 square kilometres. In the Shuswap region to the north, BC Wildfire Service says a warming and drying trend will fuel increased fire behaviour at the 430-square-kilometre Bush Creek East blaze before temperatures are expected to cool Tuesday.