NRRM Mayor shares update on wildfire situation in Fort Nelson

FORT NELSON, B.C. — Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM) Mayor Rob Fraser says the weather forecast for this week has him feeling optimistic about the BC Wildfire Service’s (BCWS) efforts to suppress the Parker Lake wildfire.

The blaze, which ignited west of Fort Nelson on Friday, May 10th, has grown to 8,433 hectares in size, but Fraser says weather conditions are turning in BCWS’ favour, with overcast skies, mild temperatures, and even some rainfall expected on Thursday.

“It’s still a dire situation,” Fraser says. “We’re not out of the woods yet, but if the weather holds like this, and the fire service is able to do what they do, we might just be able to get this beat down.”

An evacuation order was issued for Fort Nelson in the wake of the blaze. Fraser says that in the time that’s passed since, the overwhelming majority of residents have left town and fled to communities like Fort St. John and Dawson Creek.

“After we did our door-knocking, we had about 150 [people], and our Emergency Operations Centre went on a telephone campaign and phoned all those people, telling them the last buses were leaving. I think we got somewhere around 100 people who took us up on that and left,” Fraser said.

That left roughly 50 people still in the community, who Fraser says are “on their own” for the most part. 

“We’re doing what we can,” he says. “There’s no resources here. I drive around and talk to as many as I can, giving them information so they can make the best decisions for themselves, but our focus has to be on the safety of the firefighters and the safety of the community.”

Fraser also addressed rumours of looting in town, saying he has heard them but hasn’t noticed any himself and that he thinks it would be a bad idea for people to begin looting now.

“They’re not getting out of the community with whatever it is they steal,” Fraser said. “We’ve got the road blocked north, the road blocked south, we’re checking trailers and stuff, they’re not getting out of here with anything big.”

He says firefighters from BCWS, Fort Nelson, and every other community in the Peace region have done a “fantastic job” containing the fire and keeping it away from the west end of the community.

“That’s where we’ll make our last stand, and if it gets past them, then we’ll fall back,” Fraser said.

“There are a few shelter-in-place buildings that we know of in the community, mostly cement with tin roofs. We’ll fall back to there and fight out from there, as we can, to try and keep the damage to a minimum.”

Fraser also has a message for evacuees: They made the right decision to leave and need to keep their distance for everyone’s safety.

“Stay away. We’re just not ready to receive people yet. I know it’s difficult being away from your home, but it’s more difficult here.”

Energeticcity contacted the Prince George Fire Centre to learn more about the response to the blaze. However, they didn’t respond in time for publication.