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Little Bobtail Lake fire 65% contained, 5 new fires

While progress continues in controlling the Little Bobtail Lake fire, which is 65 per cent contained, there are now reports of five new wildfires in the Prince George Fire Centre.
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This is the northern flank burn of the Little Bobtail Lake fire on May 20.

While progress continues in controlling the Little Bobtail Lake fire, which is 65 per cent contained, there are now reports of five new wildfires in the Prince George Fire Centre.

These new blazes cause concern because of the volume of manpower required to battle the Little Bobtail Lake fire.

The new incidents include a 250 hectare fire near Prophet River, east of the Alaska Highway, a six hectare fire southwest of Miworth and a 1.5 hectare fire south of Mackenzie. The other two fires are less than one hectare in size, referred to as spot fires. One is south of Mackenzie and the other is west of Hixon.

There is a high danger rating in the local fire centre and fire danger is rated extreme for Mackenzie and across the northeast part of the province.

No structures are at risk at this time. Wildfire Management crews, airtankers and helicopters are are dealing with these blazes.

At the Little Bobtail Lake wildfire, crews are working on full containment, and conducted burn off operations on the eastern flank to remove fuel so the fire will not burn any further.

Fire guards are on many parts of the fire and crews are doing mop up along 50 feet of the fire's perimeter, watering open flame and digging up hot spots.

There is more than 330 fire crews,11 helicopters, 45 pieces of heavy equipment, and six airtankers used to battle the fire.

Wildfire Management reminds the public that the evacuation orders and restrictions are still in place and to stay away to let the crews do their jobs.

Recently burned forest have many hazards including trees with compromised root systems, hotspots, and unsafe access routes and fire guards.

There is no loss of structures.

There is still 80 people out on an evacuation order and evacuation orders and alerts have been put in place by the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako and the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, including an evacuation order put out a week ago Sunday for the area around Norman Lake and a week ago Monday morning an alert was put out for Bednesti Lake, Berman Lake and Dahl Lake Road.

Road blocks are still in place in that area.

BC Parks closed Dahl Lake Provincial Park and Bobtail Mountain Provincial Park to all recreational users and has ordered the evacuation of any users within the park.

Smoke is very visible from the highway and nearby communities.

The RCMP and the Wildfire Management Branch are conducting a joint investigation into the cause of this fire, which is believed to be human caused.