There
are currently 46 active wildfires within the Cariboo Fire Centre.
Today is forecasted to have cooler
weather with scattered thunderstorms. There is a chance of
lightning throughout the Cariboo Fire Centre, which are associated
with these thundershowers. The fire danger rating in the Quesnel Zone is
high with pockets of moderate to low. The Chilcotin,
Central, and 100 Mile Zones remain high to extreme. The BC Wildfire Service website displays the current fire
danger rating for the province here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status/wildfire-situation/fire-danger
At
this time, the BC Wildfire Service has not recommended backcountry
closures. All trails and backroads that are not affected by Area Restriction
Orders, Evacuation Orders, or are otherwise under
municipal jurisdiction or BC Parks jurisdiction, remain open for
public use. There are currently several provincial parks affected by wildfires;
check the BC
Parks website for updates on alerts and closures. Members of the
public must remain vigilant and act responsibly when recreating in the
backcountry. Know before you go: check the local fire danger rating, download
the BC Wildfire Service app and stay up to date with
location-specific wildfire information.
Wildfires of Note
There are nine Wildfires of Note
within the Cariboo Fire Centre. Three fires are being managed by an Incident
Management Team (Succour Lake, Flat Lake, and S of Canim Lake). Below is a
summary for your information, and you can also find these details on the Wildfire of Note page, which is updated twice
daily. Before this summary is sent out, the Wildfire of Note pages will be
updated.
Purdy Lake
The wildfire is estimated to
be 8,000 hectares in size. Crews have worked hard over the past
several days, taking advantage of favorable conditions and have made notable
progress with fire suppression. Helicopters were
onsite bucketing yesterday to support structure protection. BC
Parks have been engaged regarding suppression in the Kluskoil park.
An Evacuation Alert has been issued
by the Cariboo Regional District. This Evacuation Alert area now borders the
Evacuation Order and Evacuation Alert issued by the Regional District of
Bulkley-Nechako for the Grizzly Lake wildfire in the Prince George Fire Centre.
McKinley Lake
The McKinley Lake wildfire is 1,834
hectares in size. No significant growth occurred yesterday. Personnel
and equipment have established guard around the entire fire.
Personnel are now patrolling the edges of the fire and actioning hot spots.
Personnel will be working to remove unburnt fuel between the main fire and
established guards with small scale ignitions when conditions allow. Crews
on site are encountering challenging, steep terrain around McKinley
Creek.
An Evacuation Alert issued by the
Cariboo Regional District for Crooked Lake remains in effect.
Chasm
The Chasm wildfire
is 400 hectares. There was no significant growth on the fire
yesterday. Personnel and equipment have made notable progress on the south and
east flanks. Crews are working on mop-up operations.
An Evacuation Alert has been issued
by the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.
Young Lake
The Young Lake wildfire is
estimated at 2,631hectares and is classified as “Out of
Control.”
Late Sunday afternoon,
fire behaviour increased, and the fire pushed towards the
northeast. Monday morning, a wildfire officer flew over the fire and
constructed a plan. 6 personnel were on site on Monday and again today,
assessing and establishing structure protection on properties in
the area. On Monday, airtankers were called to site, but we unable to action
due to the heavy smoke in that area. The Cariboo Fire Centre is in the
process of taking this fire over from the Sparks Lake Incident
Management Team.
Big Stick Lake
The wildfire north of Big Stick
Lake is estimated to be 7,271 hectares in size. Variable and
gusty winds picked up in the late afternoon which coupled with warm
temperatures, led to fire growth past the perimeter around the north part of
the fire, with the most activity seen on the northeast flank (around Long Lake
along the Smoky Lake FSR). Flare ups are also occurring within the existing
perimeter as the fire burns out green pockets. Bucketing helicopters and water
skimming aircraft worked the active parts of the fire’s head on the north side
and cool hotspots to reinforce the fire guards. The fire received some light
precipitation overnight. Firefighters are running night operations in
conjunction with heavy equipment to take advantage of cooler temperatures and
higher minimum relative humidity to continue making good progress in key areas
on the southeast flank (east of Highway 20). Firefighters and heavy equipment
are working to reinforce the fire guards in critical areas around the fire,
supported by structural protection specialists. Highway 20 remains open to
Bella Coola, though road crews are on standby to close the highway as needed
based on wildfire activity or operations. Telus has completed
assessments of the fibre optic lines will be done and has
contractors working to replace the poles that were compromised
by previous wildfire growth.
An Evacuation Order is in effect
for the Big Stick wildfire area. This order replaces the Evacuation Alert
issued by the Cariboo Regional District on July 10.
An Evacuation Alert issued by the
Cariboo Regional District has been expanded and remains in effect for
the Big Stick wildfire area.
Hotnarko Creek
The Hotnarko Creek
wildfire is estimated at 1,500 hectares. The fire has not crossed
Highway 20 and demonstrated low intensity
fire behaviour yesterday. The fire received light precipitation
overnight. Road closures may occur to continue supporting ongoing operations
and to maintain public safety. Check DriveBC for updates.
Firefighters are working along the north and east flank
to contain the fire perimeter, supported by heavy equipment.
Summary
of other wildfires
Below
is a summary of some of the active fires, by zone, as of today. For current
sizes on wildfires not listed below, please check the All
Current Wildfires web page.
Quesnel
Fire Zone
There
are seven active wildfires burning in this zone.
Three fires are now
classified as under control and four are out of control.
Central
Cariboo Zone
There are eight active
wildfires burning in this zone.
Three fires are now
classified as under control and five are out of control.
Chilcotin
Zone
There are five active
wildfires burning in this zone.
Two fires are now classified
as under control and three are out of control.
100
Mile Fire Zone
The
Incident Management Team (IMT) is managing wildfires to the north of
Highway 24 and east of Highway 97 within this zone. The is managing 18 of
the 26 active wildfires in the zone, with the Cariboo Fire Centre managing
the remainder. Eleven of the fires in the 100 Mile zone are now
under control, six are being held, and nine are out of
control.
100 Mile Incident Management Team
Managed Wildfires of Note:
S of Canim Lake
This wildfire is estimated at
2,487 hectares. Crews will continue to work in the northeast
corner of the fire and work towards to the
southwest corner. Crews are focusing on completing the fire guard,
and are working through very steep gullies on the west side of the
fire. There are helicopters available to continue to action the fires
within the Northeast complex
with bucketing activities. Structure protection personnel
were present working in and around the nearby residences. Crews
worked overnight monitoring the fire activity.
The Cariboo Regional District has
upgraded the existing Evacuation Alert to an Evacuation Order on the south side
of Canim Lake. The north side remains on an Evacuation Alert.
Succour Lake
The Succour Lake wildfire
is estimated at 529 hectares. There has been minimal growth of this wildfire
over the last 10 days. It is not immediately threatening any
communities or access roads at this time. However, due to the potential
for warm and dry conditions combined with the proximity to values, evacuation
alerts remain in effect.
The Cariboo Regional District has
expanded the existing evacuation alerts on both the north and south sides of
Canim Lake (See above).
Flat Lake
The Flat Lake
wildfire is 26,191 hectares and is classified as “Out of
Control.” Yesterday, another successful planned ignitions were
conducted in the southeast, and west of and along the wooden transmission
lines. The goal was to remove available fuels between the fire and the
transmission lines.
Overnight
the fire advanced to Highway 97 at 83 Mile and the Green Lake Road. There were
some spots that crossed the highway but structure protection
personnel and the volunteer fire department were on site patrolling the
area.
Heavy
smoke continues to impact the highway. For the most up to date
information on impacts to Highway 97, please check Drive BC.
Today
crews will be working to secure the area at 83 Mile on Highway 97, north of
Bullock Lake Road and towards Davis Lake. Heavy equipment will be building
guard in this area. Crews along with structure protection personnel will be
patrolling the transmission line. Heavy equipment is working to secure the area
in the vicinity of the Stormy Road north to the 3000 Road and continues to work
on guard from Gustafsen Lake connecting existing road systems. There are 14
helicopters available to continue to action the fires within this complex
with bucketing activities. Structural protection specialists continue
to support the residences and properties on the Bullock Lake Road.
On July 17, 2021, the Thompson
Nicola Regional District upgraded an Evacuation Alert to an Order for the Flat
Lake Wildfire Electoral Area "E" (Bonaparte Plateau) in the vicinity of Gustafsen and
Neilson Lakes. The additional Evacuation Alert issued by the Thompson
Nicola Regional District remains in place. The Evacuation Order and
Alert issued by the Cariboo Regional District remain in place.
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