Forests in the Prince George region have escaped the wrath of wildfires now threatening other parts of northern BC.
Although there were a few lightening strikes in the Prince George region over the weekend in an area that's seen very little rain the past three weeks, forests in the north central Interior have been spared the flames now consuming forests in the Fort Nelson region.
Since Monday, the Prince George Fire Centre has responded to 11 new fires in the Fort Nelson fire zone, four of which were still burning. As of Wednesday afternoon there were a total of 17 active fires in the northeast quadrant of the province.
"Out area is still rated moderate to low [fire risk] so we've had definitely had enough rain to keep it on the less active side," said Prince George Fire Centre information officer Jillian Chimko. "Normally at this time of year we do see the fires move north to south, so we do see more fires in this area. It's surprising to have such an active fire season up north at this time of year. Normally it would be our area or further south."
An evacuation alert was issued for structures south of the 5,750-hectare Pesh fire that's been consuming the forests 40 kilometres west of Fort Nelson, but fire activity has been kept to a minimum the past few days, limiting its spread.
Crews were battling high winds and hot and dry conditions Wednesday while fighting two separate fires which have grown to a combined 7,500 hectares in the Cobot-Blanc Complex, 100 kilometres north of Fort Nelson. One drilling rig camp evacuated the site.
Smoke was visible from Highway 97 from three fires totaling 125 hectares near Toad River, 140 km west of Fort Nelson. Another blaze near Kotcho Lake, 80km east of Fort Nelson covered about 1,800 hectares in area.
There was one initial attack crew of three and a 20-person unit crew from Prince George, as well as a unit crew from Vanderhoof fighting the Fort Nelson-area fires. Unit crews in Burns Lake, Telkwa and the Cariboo are on standby and Chimko said one one of those units might be deployed to Prince George this weekend.
The government's wildfire account on Twitter -- http://twitter.com/BCGovFireInfo reported no campfire bans were in place, as of Tuesday, but there is a ban on open burning, which will remain in effect until Sept. 19.
To report a wildfire or unattended campfire, call *5555 (cell phone) or 1-800-663-5555 toll-free.
