B.C.’s wildfire season has begun with one community under an evacuation order and others under evacuation alerts.
About 100 residents of Kelly Lake, northeast of Prince George near the Alberta border, have been ordered to evacuate. The out-of-control Kiskatinaw River wildfire is now within one kilometre of the town and covers nearly 12,000 hectares.
According to the BC Wildfire Service and Alberta Wildfire, the fire advanced rapidly on Thursday towards Alberta, where the County of Grande Prairie issued an evacuation order for a rural area, and an alert to be ready to flee for the region surrounding it. (Details on the areas affected can be found on the Alberta Emergency Alert website.)
“Last night, windy conditions drove this wildfire closer to the Alberta border. Spot fires, which are small fires that start from embers, are now on the Alberta side of the border,” Alberta Wildfire said in an update Friday morning.
The BC Wildfire Service said it is concerned about high winds, which are expected to pick up over the weekend. Alberta Wildfire said a developing weather system will bring gusts up to 70 km/h.
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“Aggressive fire behaviour is expected again (Friday), with strong south-westerly winds shifting north-west with the passage of a cold front late (Friday) afternoon. These dangerous wind conditions are expected to persist through the weekend. Firefighters will face challenging conditions today and throughout the weekend,” Alberta Wildfire said.
Highway 43 in Alberta is currently open but subject to change if conditions worsen.
People in Kelly Lake are being urged not to wait until they see smoke to leave their homes.
“We are seeing the fire spotting into the community of Kelly Lake, so there is fire within the community, there is structure protection crews on site in Kelly Lake, structure protection equipment has been established since this fire moved aggressively towards Kelly Lake,” B.C. fire information officer Karley Desrosiers said on Thursday.
“This is a very, very dangerous situation and anybody at the head of this fire is certainly in imminent danger so I would strongly encourage folks to keep a close eye on the information being issued by their local authorities.”
Farther north, the Summit Lake fire, west of Fort Nelson, is also out of control.
That fire covers nearly 30 square kilometres and people living in the area are on evacuation alert.
There are currently 68 active wildfires burning across B.C.
Meanwhile, Southern British Columbia is bracing for its first serious bout of hot weather of the season.
Environment Canada has issued special weather statements for most of southern B.C., stretching from southern and eastern Vancouver Island through to Revelstoke, the Okanagan Valley and Grand Forks.
The high temperatures are forecast to persist into next week, with the latest forecasts showing the heat peaking on Sunday and Monday.
-with files from Simon Little
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