(UPDATE) Holdover blaze north of Fort Nelson grows beyond 1,400 hectares

Updated, May 14th, 5:20 p.m.: This story was updated because the fire has grown to 1,465.54  hectares.

FORT NELSON, B.C. — A wildfire discovered north of Fort Nelson has grown by nearly a thousand hectares in less than 12 hours.

The fire, discovered on Thursday, May 8th, is situated south of the Kiwigana River and currently labelled ‘out of control’ by the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS).

It is a ‘holdover’ or ‘overwintering’ fire, which means it started in a previous wildfire season before it moved underground and then resurfaced this spring. 

Over the course of May 12th, the area the fire has burned grew from 425.47 hectares to 1,419.42 hectares, according to the BCWS, which lists the suspected cause as a lightning strike. On May 14th, it expanded further to 1,465.54 hectares.

There are 17 BCWS personnel currently monitoring the blaze, which means they are “observing and analyzing the fire.” According to the latest update, four firefighting personnel have also been assigned to the fire.

“With finite firefighting resources, efforts are being prioritised toward wildfires that pose the greatest risk to values,” the BCWS says.

“Given the scale of the area impacted by wildfires since 2023—spanning more than 1.8 million hectares—it would take a very large number of personnel and equipment to fully action every hotspot.

“Instead, crews are focusing on the fires that are most likely to impact infrastructure and other critical values.”

No evacuation orders or area restrictions are currently in effect as a result of the fire.

This is one of a number of holdover fires the BCWS is “closely monitoring” in the Fort Nelson region. It is currently one of the largest being dealt with in that cluster.

Energeticcity.ca will update this story with new information as it becomes available.