Moberly River wildfire growing

CHETWYND, B.C. — The BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) continues to respond to the Moberly River wildfire west of Chetwynd, which grew over the weekend.

The wildfire service says the fire was displaying aggressive fire behaviour, or rank four fire behaviour, over the weekend. The fire is now 1,200 hectares in size, growing towards the east.

The growth has been attributed to the area’s high winds and drought conditions.

Smoke will continue to be highly visible while the weather stays unseasonably warm and dry in the region, said the BCWS.

According to a release, a BCWS officer flew over the fire on October 13th and confirmed the aggressive fire behaviour and growth.

BC Hydro was contacted to inform them that the fire had crossed transmission lines, but the service was not impacted.

The wildfire service continued property assessments further to the east on October 14th and continued structure protection of the caribou restoration area.

High to extreme fire danger ratings have been consistently observed in the Moberly River area and are expected to continue.

The Sandy Creek wildfire south of the Yukon border has grown in size to 100 hectares and is listed as out of control.

The Horseshoe Mountain wildfire remains out of control at 2.10 hectares.

The fire north of Prophet River is still 4 hectares in size, and the Prophet River wildfire remains at 10 hectares. Both fires are listed as out of control.

The 1,000-hectare Milliken Creek wildfire is still out of control.

A fire suspected to be person-caused started on Friday, October 14th, north of Cecil Lake, is sitting at 4 hectares.

Category 2 and Category 3 open burning in the Prince George Fire Centre is still prohibited. Though this does not apply to campfires, the wildfire service would like to remind the public to be cautious with their use of fire and to check with local authorities and local weather before lighting any fire.