Donnie Creek wildfire planned ignition pushed back

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Crews working on the Donnie Creek Complex chose to push the planned ignition on the Donnie Creek wildfire back until conditions are more favourable.

The Donnie Creek Complex consists of the 506,692-hectare Donnie Creek wildfire, the 32,628-hectare Klua Lakes wildfire and the 11,367-hectare Muskwa River wildfire.

Marg Drysdale, a fire information officer with the Donnie Creek Complex, said the planned ignition crews wanted to conduct on Thursday was pushed to Friday in hopes of more favourable conditions.

“They are going to look at it again today; if the fuels are receptive, the winds are right, they’ll go ahead with it,” Drysdale said.

“Everything is in place to go ahead. They’re just looking for proper conditions. They will wait another day or as long as it takes; they’re not going to go ahead and light anything unless they have exactly the right conditions to do so.”

A smaller planned ignition took place north of Trutch to tie in two natural guards as added protection in the area.

A guard is a wide path, dirt road or natural barrier where all fuel is removed and can be achieved by hand or machinery for larger guards, also known as a control line.

On the Donnie Creek wildfire’s south flank, crews will be building guard on the 135 and Nig Roads and maintaining structure protection on Camp 192.

The fire information officer said crews are also preparing for a planned ignition off the Jedney airstrip.

On the fire’s southeast flank, crews continue to contain the fire south of the Beatton River, and have successfully kept the fire on the east side of the river and above Birley Road.

“[On Friday], firefighters are gonna look for any opportunity to conduct some small planned ignitions to solidify lines and key areas along this flank,” Drysdale added.

Similar to the conditions in the South Peace Complex, she said operations will be dependent on the wind.

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

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.