Muskwa River wildfire being held in Donnie Creek Complex

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Muskwa River wildfire, part of the Donnie Creek Complex, is now being held as storm systems move through the region on Wednesday.

The Muskwa River wildfire is approximately 20,292 hectares.

Fire information officer on the Donnie Creek Complex, Nicole Bonnet, said crews will be closely monitoring the fires in the complex on Wednesday afternoon as the system may bring gusts of winds up to 80 kilometres per hour. The expected winds may cause more aggressive wildfire behaviour. 

The Donnie Creek Complex consists of the Donnie Creek, Muskwa River, Klua Lakes and Zaremba Creek wildfires.

The Donnie Creek wildfire remains out of control at approximately 574,511 hectares.

The fire information officer said 160 firefighters, 21 operational field staff, 12 helicopters, 32 pieces of heavy equipment and 13 structure protection personnel are assigned to the Donnie Creek wildfire on Wednesday.

Crews are still working between the Beatton River and the Tommy Lakes Road, as well as along the 123 Road and moving east.

Heavy equipment is still in the area, working on a machine guard. A guard is a wide path or dirt road where all fuel is removed and can be achieved by hand or machinery for larger guards, also known as a control line.

The Peace River Regional District rescinded evacuation orders for the Donnie Creek wildfire on June 18th, but some evacuation alerts remain in place. An area restriction is also still in place around the wildfire.

The Klua Lakes wildfire is still approximately 37,869 hectares, and the Zaremba Creek wildfire grew to about 1,206 hectares.

The Tooga Creek wildfire is about 36,445 hectares, and an evacuation alert remains for the area.

Bonnet also wanted to remind residents to report wildfires if they’re spotted over the long weekend.

“The more information they can provide in their report, the better,” the fire information officer said.

“If they can do it through the BC Wildfire Service app on their cell phone and send a photo, that’s hugely appreciated because the photo is geo-referenced, so we can see where you took it from and the direction you’re looking.”

There are 23 active wildfires in the Prince George Fire Centre.

The special air quality statement issued in northeastern B.C. was reissued on June 20th.

The air quality is at a high risk in Fort St. John in areas with smoke.

For the latest wildfire information, visit BCWS’ website.