Fish Creek wildfire now designated ‘under control’

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Fish Creek wildfire is now under control, five days after its initial breakout. 

In a May 6th update, just after 9 a.m., the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) declared the Fish Creek Community Forest wildfire “under control.”

“Fire behaviour is currently minimal, with very limited activity observed along the perimeter,” said BCWS.

“Smoke remains visible, particularly in the southern sections of the fire, where crews are actively patrolling and targeting hot spots.”

Karley Desrosiers, information officer with BCWS, said the service and Fort St. John Fire Department are continuing to work on the fire’s perimeter.

“We do have crews working along the north flank patrolling and extinguishing any hotspots that they find and we’ll have crews on the south side as well later today doing the same thing,” said Desrosiers.

She says the BCWS will also do an infrared scan of the area to help with the extinguishing efforts. 

“We’ll have a drone out scanning for remaining hotspots and then utilizing the data … crews can work off those maps that are produced to address the remaining fire.

“Once we get those scan results, we’ll have a better idea of how much heat is left in the area, but we are certainly progressing in the right direction.”

The service previously reported the fire as “being held” on May 4th. 

The wildfire first ignited in the forest on May 1st and grew to 110 hectares before reducing to 56 hectares. 

The City of Fort St. John said 19 households were displaced due to the fire but could return on May 2nd, as no structures were damaged. 

That day, the City of Fort St. John started an investigation into the cause of the wildfire, which the BCWS still suspects to be caused by human activity.

The Fort St. John RCMP request anyone with information or video footage, contact the lead investigator, Constable Shaun Wagantall, at 250-787-8100.