Donnie Creek wildfire grows as storms descend from north

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. —  Thunderstorms have begun descending on the 582,785-hectare Donnie Creek wildfire Thursday.

The storms will bring an increased chance of rainfall and a high of 18 degrees Celsius.

On Thursday, 41 firefighters, nine operational field staff, four aircraft, 30 pieces of heavy equipment and 11 structure protection personnel are assigned to the Donnie Creek Complex.

The Donnie Creek Complex consists of the Donnie Creek, Klua Lakes, Muskwa River, Zaremba Creek, Beatton River, Milligan Hills, Fontas River wildfires, and a fire located approximately 135 kilometres north of Fort St. John.

On the Donnie Creek wildfire, crews are prepping for planned ignitions at the Beatton-Jedney junction, which will only occur if conditions are favourable.

Structure protection personnel have demobilized from structures that were no longer threatened and established equipment on egress routes on the fire’s south flank.

Crews will also support machine operations along Jedney Road.

The Peace River Regional District rescinded evacuation orders for the Donnie Creek wildfire on June 18th, but some evacuation alerts remain in place.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 Muskwa River wildfire is being held at 21,056 hectares; the Klua Lakes wildfire is 44,241 hectares; the Zaremba Creek wildfire is about 14,714 hectares; the Fontas River wildfire is 18,061 hectares; the fire 135 kilometres north of Fort St. John is approximately 1,030 hectares; the Beatton River wildfire is 10 hectares; and the Milligan Hills wildfire grew to 354 hectares.

The Tooga Creek wildfire is still around 36,445 hectares, and an evacuation alert remains in place for the area.

The area restriction around the South Peace Complex was rescinded on July 6th.

The West Kiskatinaw River wildfire is classified as being held at 25,095 hectares, and the Peavine Creek wildfire is under control at 4,427 hectares.

There are 40 active wildfires in the Prince George Fire Centre.

As of Monday, all campfires have been banned across the province except on the North Coast island of Haida Gwaii.

The ban applies to the Category 1 campfires, measuring up to 50 centimetres by 50 centimetres, expanding prohibitions already applied to specific regions in B.C. or to larger fires.

Environment Canada reissued a special air quality statement on June 20th for Fort Nelson and the North Peace region. The air quality is at a very high risk in Fort St. John in areas with smoke.

The latest information on air quality can be found on the Government of Canada’s website.

For the latest information on evacuation orders and alerts, visit the Peace River Regional District’s, Tumbler Ridge’s and Northern Rockies Regional Municipality’s websites.

For the latest wildfire information, visit BCWS’ website.