Crews are making gains on a wildfire near Powder King that temporarily closed highway 97 in both directions on the weekend.
The Pine River blaze was discovered on Friday, Aug. 13 between Mackenzie and Chetwynd and has destroyed structures and damaged a hydro power line.
The suspected human-caused wildfire is currently 2,542 hectares in size one of three wildfires of note in the Prince George Fire Centre classified as out of control.
However, the BC Wildfire Service says weekend precipitation has meant fire activity has remained low.
“Crews and heavy equipment completed a fireguard to the east of the Pine River wildfire yesterday. Today, crews are continuing to mop up along the south flank,” said Fire Information Officer Sharon Nickel.
She said assessments of the structures lost due to the wildfire are ongoing, however, there are no concerns to Chetwynd or Powder king at this time. Although an evacuation alert has been issued by the Peace River Regional District for an area along Highway 97.
“The Structure Protection Specialist on-site is completing a broad assessment of the area today to identify values and develop a structure protection plan for the area. Fire cause is still under investigation and details will be made available once the investigation is complete,” added Nickel.
She said since the fire activity on the Pine River wildfire has decreased, infrastructure in the immediate fire area is not currently threatened.
Crews are working with stakeholders but Nickel added that priority one is human life and safety, followed by critical infrastructure and property.
“The significant fire growth we saw on the Pine River wildfire occurred on August 13, the day the fire started. Hot and dry conditions and winds in the area resulted in extreme fire behaviour and significant growth. With precipitation in the area on Saturday and Sunday we did see decreased fire activity.”
The largest wildfire in the Prince George wildfire centre is Cutoff Creek, southwest of Vanderhoof. It was first discovered July 2 and is now burning at 31,602 ha.
“Following the warming/drying trend in weather last week, the Cutoff Creek fire sustained winds of approximately 70km on Friday, and continued to experience winds on Saturday and Sunday. Some precipitation was received, but not significant enough to break through the canopy,” added Nickel.
The Regional District of Bulkley Valley, Saik’uz First Nation and BC Parks issued an evacuation order on Friday which includes an area 44 kilometers on the Kluskus Forest Service Road, east to the west end of Frank Lake, south to the south end of Hay Lake, east to 11 km on the Red Road, then back north to 44 km on the Kluskus Forest Service Road including a portion of Finger-Tatuk Park.
An evacuation alert was also expanded. The BCWS has 63 firefighters, three helicopters and 11 pieces of heavy equipment dedicated to fighting the fire, which remains out of control.
Nickel added that there has been misreporting of structures lost at Cuttoff Creek and, in fact, there have been no structures lost at this incident.
Northeast of Prince George near Tumbler Ridge, the Tentfire Creek wildfire, discovered on July 1, is also out of control.
“Although the Tentfire Creek wildfire did receive some precipitation over the weekend, high winds continue to be a challenge. 21 firefighters and heavy equipment are continuing to work along the fireguard near Mast Road. Limited visibility yesterday posed a significant safety risk and helicopters were grounded through the day.”
Limited visibility has grounded aviation resources again today but conditions are assessed continuously and aviation resources will continue operations when it is safe to do so.
There are currently 60 fires burning in the Prince George Fire Centre and 266 throughout the province.
- with files from Ted Clarke, Prince George Citizen
