North Peace Complex on the way to being held

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) is looking at focusing efforts on the Stoddart Creek wildfire and changing the control status of the other fires in the North Peace Complex.

The North Peace Complex consists of the Red Creek, Stoddart Creek, Cameron River and Boundary Lake wildfires.

The BCWS has just over 50 firefighters still working on the Red Creek wildfire and are looking at changing the status to being held if weather conditions are favourable through the weekend.

The Red Creek wildfire still has not seen any growth and remains at 2,947 hectares.

Though some wind is expected over the weekend, it will not hit the speeds it did earlier in the week. Instead, the wind may assist in moving smoke off the fires so BCWS crews can better look at the fires in the complex.

Cameron River is also holding steady at 385 hectares and may be listed as being held in the coming days, depending on the weather through the weekend.

The Boundary Lake wildfire, being held at 6,171 hectares, may be moved to the “under control” status in the next few days.

If weather conditions remain favourable with no major wind events, resources will begin to be moved off of the Red Creek, Cameron River and Boundary Lake wildfires to focus on the Stoddart Creek wildfire.

According to the BCWS, the Stoddart Creek wildfire showed some growth in the northwest corner of the fire, bringing the total estimated size to around 25,000 hectares. The size may change if the smoke starts to clear, and crews can get a better look at the fire’s perimeter.

The BCWS says they want to do conduct planned ignitions to remove any unburnt fuel in areas that showed some growth.

Because of the planned ignitions, more smoke may be visible along the highway, and the highway may be temporarily closed to facilitate this. The BCWS says this may happen on Friday or in the coming days, depending on weather conditions.

The rest of the Stoddart Creek wildfire has shown no growth or movement along the east and south flanks.

The North Peace Complex has around 600 people working on the complex.

In Fort St. John, the air quality is still at a high to very high risk due to the smoke. The special air quality statement is still in effect.

Winds in Fort St. John on Friday are blowing northwest at 24 kilometres an hour, with gusts reaching 42 kilometres an hour.

There are approximately 18 active wildfires in the Peace region.

For the latest wildfire information, visit BCWS’ website.