July 11th General Update from the Cariboo Fire Centre

Courtesy of the Cariboo Fire Centre:

There are currently 69 active wildfires within the Cariboo Fire Centre.

The fire danger rating in the Cariboo is currently mostly High across the centre, with some pockets of Extreme and Moderate. 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 implemented any backcountry closures. All trails and backroads that are not affected by Area Restriction Orders, Evacuation Orders, or are otherwise under municipal jurisdiction, remain open for public use. 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.

Wildfire of Note

There are seven Wildfire of Note within the Cariboo Fire Centre and three are being managed by an Incident Management Team (Deka Lake, Succour Lake and 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.

Big Stick Lake

The Big Stick Lake fire is located south of Anahim Lake and North of Big Stick and Clearwater Lake. Elevated winds increased the wildfire behaviour on the incident yesterday. Ground personnel had to pull back from the wildfire due to safety concerns with egress routes. The focus today will be on re-establishing control lines with heavy equipment and hose lay in areas that the wildfire crossed the guard. Aircraft will work to cool hot spots while controls lines are constructed. 

An Evacuation Alert has been upgraded to an order by the Cariboo Regional District for the Big Stick area.

Churn Creek Protected Area

The wildfire is estimated to be 2566 hectares in size. Due to successful suppression efforts this wildfire will not have resources allocated to the incident today. We will continue to monitor this wildfire over the coming days.

There is an evacuation alert that was issued by the Cariboo Regional District for the area.

Purdy Lake

The wildfire is estimated to be 2250 hectares in size. BC Parks has been engaged and a collaborative plan has been developed for fire suppression within the Kluskoil Lake Park.  The guard on the northern flank is complete. Heavy machinery will focus efforts on building guard on the east and south flank to create containment lines while ground personnel continue to complete a hose lay.

An evacuation alert has been issued by the Cariboo Regional District for the Titetown area.

Flat Lake

The wildfire west of 100 Mile and near Flat Lake is estimated to be 300 hectares in size. Yesterday, smoke was visible from 100 Mile and surrounding communities. Ground personnel, heavy equipment, aerial support in the form of helicopters will continue to suppress this wildfire. There are no structures threatened at this time. An Evacuation Alert was issued today by the Cariboo Regional District and Thompson Nicola Regional District. This wildfire is now considered a Wildfire of Note.

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. All fires and reports of wildfires are continuing to be assess and actioned in priority sequence.

Quesnel Fire Zone

There are eight active wildfires burning in this zone.

1. C11552 – The wildfire burning south of Kluskus Lake is estimated to be 30 hectares in size. Ground personnel are continuing to establish a hose lay and cutting in a trail.

Central Cariboo Zone

There are 10 active wildfires burning in this zone.

1. C31056 – The wildfire near McKinley Lake is estimated to be 1500 hectares in size. Firefighters, an equipment task force team and helicopters continue to suppress the wildfire. The ground personnel continue to work to secure the west flank. Containment lines are being constructed on the east flank.
2. C21722 – The wildfire near Renner Lake is estimated to be just under seven hectares in size. Heavy equipment completed a guard around the wildfire and today ground personnel will focus efforts on patrolling the perimeter of the wildfire for hot spots and danger tree assessing.
3. C21739 –The wildfire east of Chimney Lake is now classified as Being Held. It is estimated to be just over one hectare in size. Yesterday, heavy equipment completed a fuel free guard and ground personnel put in a five-foot blackline.

Chilcotin Zone

There are eight active wildfires burning in this zone.

1. C51355 – The wildfire near McKinley Lake is estimated to be 1500 hectares in size. Firefighters, equipment task force team and two helicopters continue to suppress the wildfire. The ground personnel continue to work to establish access to the fire and engage in direct attack on the west flank.

100 Mile Fire Zone

The Incident Management Team is managing wildfire to the north of Highway 24 and east of Highway 97 within this zone. There are 46 active wildfires burning in this zone. Nine are classified as Being Held and sixteen are Under Control.