BCWS 'closely monitoring' 11 holdover wildfires near Fort Nelson

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A 55-hectare fire located northwest of the Fort Nelson River is one of 11 wildfires in the Fort Nelson zone. (BC Wildfire Service)

FORT NELSON, B.C. — The BC Wildfire Service is closely monitoring 11 holdover wildfires which have reignited in the Fort Nelson region.

The BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) posted on Facebook on May 9th to say the ‘holdover’ or ‘overwintering’ fires – ones which started last year but laid dormant through the winter before re-emerging in 2025 – have “become more visible in recent days” and it “continue[s] to monitor these fires closely.”

“Crews and aircraft have been deployed to areas where active wildfires pose the greatest potential risk to values and infrastructure,” the notice reads. “Suppression efforts are focused on fires that can be safely and effectively actioned at this time.

“Additional firefighting resources [are] being mobilized from other parts of the province to support the response. Fires with lower potential for growth or limited risk to values are currently being monitored.”

Wildfire activity in the Fort Nelson region currently has fires ranging from one to 80 hectares which are listed as ‘out of control’ – a fire that could expand beyond its current perimeter.

Of the 11 listed, only three are labelled as ‘being held’ and just one, a 3.2-hectare wildfire discovered on May 3rd, is ‘under control.’

For a complete map of the wildfire activity in the province, visit the BCWS website.