UPDATE: The evacuation order for the Klua Lakes wildfire has been reduced to an evacuation alert. The evacuation alert for the Donnie Creek and Tommy Lakes wildfires has been extended to include additional areas east of the fire.
FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Donnie Creek wildfire’s size is larger than the overall amount of hectares burned in the province last summer, according to the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS).
The Donnie Creek wildfire is out of control at approximately 157,500 hectares.
The wildfire service says on Monday afternoon, people driving on the Alaska Highway would have seen thick columns of smoke going up from the fire due to its continuous activity coming from the south flank.
The Donnie Creek wildfire currently has six helicopters and 95 wildfire personnel working on the fire, as well as pieces of heavy equipment.
BCWS expects significant fire activity on the Donnie Creek wildfire for the foreseeable future because of the dry weather conditions.
Teams on the ground will conduct planned ignitions around oil and gas infrastructure areas on Tuesday and in the coming days to create a control line. After the scheduled ignition, crews will conduct mop-up operations in the same places.
Structure protection teams are looking at structures in the area to see what they can do to put sprinkler systems on some of the threatened buildings, according to BCWS.
Some areas of the Donnie Creek wildfire are much calmer because of the previous rain, and crews are focusing on the areas of the fire that pose a risk to structures, including leisure cabins and industry assets.
On Sunday evening, the Peace River Regional District issued a new evacuation order and alert for the Donnie Creek and Tommy Lakes wildfire. On Tuesday afternoon, the Peace River Regional District added new areas under evacuation alert to the east of the fire.
The new alert applies to the following areas:
- One kilometre east of Highway 97 between kilometre 225 and kilometre 273
- Due east to a point where it insects with West Milligan Creek
- Due north to a point of intersection with Cautley Creek
- Northwest to the Peace River Regional District
- West following the Peace River Regional District boundary to Kahntah River
- South following Donnie Creek/Tommy Lakes Wildfire Evacuation Order #5 to Buckinghorse River
- Southwest to one kilometre east of Highway 97
The Klua Lakes wildfire, part of the Donnie Creek Complex, is approximately 29,060 hectares and is out of control.
BCWS is not currently working on the fire, as it is not threatening any structures, but they are monitoring the fire’s progress by helicopter.
The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM) rescinded an evacuation order for the Klua Lakes fire, and the area is now under an evacuation alert.
Due to low fire activity, the Muskwa River fire is now listed as being held at 8,856 hectares.
The NRRM released an updated map of the evacuation order area Monday afternoon.
A human-caused fire near Tooga Creek that started on May 17th is out of control at 8,000 hectares. The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM) has issued an evacuation alert for the area.
For more information on the alert, contact the NRRM Emergency Operations Centre at 250-774-2541.
On Monday, the BCWS was winding down the number of resources responding to fires in the North Peace Complex due to reduced wildfire activity.
The North Peace Complex includes the Red Creek, Cameron River, Boundary Lake, and Stoddart Creek wildfires.
The Red Creek fire is estimated at 2,947 hectares, Cameron River is approximately 385 hectares, and Boundary Lake is about 6,171 hectares. All three wildfires are under control.
The Stoddart Creek wildfire is approximately 29,222 hectares and is classified as being held.
The Pingel Creek and the Coffee Creek wildfires have been extinguished.
There are approximately ten active wildfires in the Peace region.
For the latest evacuation order and alert information, visit the Peace River Regional District’s website.
For the latest wildfire information, visit BCWS’ website.
Stay connected with local news
Make us your
home page
