Donnie Creek wildfire receives only six millimetres of rain

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Donnie Creek wildfire, part of the Donnie Creek Complex, only received about six millimetres of rain, despite rainfall diminishing wildfire behaviour in the South Peace Complex, according to BC Wildfire Service (BCWS).

Marg Drysdale, a BCWS fire information officer for the Donnie Creek Complex, said 188 personnel are working on the 487,509-hectare fire on Wednesday.

That number includes 105 firefighters, 11 helicopters and 28 pieces of heavy equipment.

Drysdale said rain is forecasted on the fire’s southern edge on Wednesday, but Thursday and Friday are forecast to be hot and dry.

Crews are focusing structure protection efforts on areas with any type of infrastructure and the area near Trutch because the fire is about two kilometres from the Alaska Highway.

The fire information officer said crews are trying to do as much structure protection as possible before the fire begins to pick up again on Thursday and Friday and try to minimize any impact to travel on the Alaska Highway.

Structure protection crews are also working on the fire’s southeast corner.

BCWS is asking those on evacuation alerts to FireSmart their properties if they have time.

“That means making sure that if you have an open deck, there’s no debris underneath it; if you have firewood backed up against your house, move it,” Drysdale explained.

For more information on FireSmart, visit FireSmart BC’s website.

The other fires in the Donnie Creek Complex remain out of control; the Muskwa River wildfire is approximately 11,367 hectares, and the Klua Lakes wildfire is about 32,050 hectares.

The Peace River Regional District issued new evacuation alerts and orders for the Donnie Creek wildfire, and an area restriction is still in place.

A wildfire suspected to be caused by lightning sparked on Tuesday, June 13th, north of Beckman Creek. It is approximately 55 hectares and is classified as out of control.

The Tooga Creek wildfire is about 31,000 hectares, and an evacuation alert remains in place.

For the latest evacuation order and alert information, visit the Peace River Regional District’s and Northern Rockies Regional Municipality’s websites.

There are approximately 33 active wildfires in the Prince George Fire Centre.

For the latest wildfire information, visit BCWS’ website.