New evacuation orders and alerts issued for Donnie Creek wildifre

UPDATE – The Peace River Regional District has issued two evacuation orders and alerts for the Donnie Creek wildfire. This story has been updated to reflect this.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – The Peace River Regional District has issued two new evacuation orders and two new evacuation alerts for properties near the Donnie Creek/Tommy Lakes wildfire.

On Sunday, the region experienced strong northwesterly winds. This caused aggressive fire behaviour and growth in the southern part of the fire. The Wildfire Service will be deploying structure protection units to the area. The Donnie Creek wildfire is over 404,916 hectares and is considered one of the largest wildfires in B.C. history. The fire is approximately 136 km southeast of Fort Nelson and 158 km north of Fort St. John.

Donnie Creek/Tommy Lakes Evacuation Order #6 applies to properties that were previously under Evacuation Alert #7, including the following areas:

• 4 km east of Highway 97N between Sikanni Chief and Pink Mountain;
• due east from Pink Mountain to a point where it intersects with West Milligan Creek;
• due North 24 kms; and
• west to point of intersection (Sikanni Chief 4 km east of Highway 97).

The second evacuation order (evacuation #8) is closer to the Alaska Highway and covers the following area:

• east of Highway 97N between Mile 192 and Mile 207; and

• between Pink Mountain and Sikanni Chief, 1 to 4 km east of Highway 97.

The following area remains under evacuation alert #8:

• extending East 20 km of Highway 97N

Evacuation alert #9 was also issued late Sunday and includes the following area:

• west of Highway 97 N between Mile 192 and Mile 207;
• west 6 km from Mile 192 of Hwy 97N;
• from that point, north to the Prophet River; and
• east following along the Prophet River for 14 km then southeast to Mile 207 of Hwy 97N.

This does not apply to First Nations communities or municipalities, as they issue their own orders and alerts.

#BCWildfire continues to respond to the Donnie Creek wildfire (G80280), located approx 158 km N of #FortStJohn and 136 km SE of #FortNelson. Due to gusty, northwesterly winds this afternoon, this wildfire is exhibiting aggressive fire behaviour and has grown to the south. pic.twitter.com/0CzmTk0CxM

— BC Wildfire Service (@BCGovFireInfo) June 12, 2023

Anyone evacuating should head to Fort St. John and the Pomeroy Sport Centre. The Emergency Support Services Centre will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 12, 2023. You can also register by phone at 250-794-3310.