(UPDATE) Kiskatinaw River Wildfire stretches to 6,532 hectares

Update, 8:02 p.m., June 3rd: This story has been updated to include the current size of the Kiskatinaw River Wildfire and current road closures.

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — The Kiskatinaw River Wildfire has stretched to 6,532 hectares according to the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS).

A notice on June 3rd from BCWS says the fire will “experience significant growth in the coming days” due to winds from the west “expected to intensify.”

“[Winds] reaching over 50 kilometres per hour on Thursday and up to 60 kilometres per hour by Friday,” reads the update from BCWS. “These winds will continue to drive the fire north, south and eastward toward Kelly Lake and the Alberta border.”

Additionally, a second evacuation alert and a third evacuation order has been issued for parts of the area by the Peace River Regional District (PRRD).

The fire – first discovered on May 28th – led to both an evacuation alert and an evacuation order being issued by the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) last week, as well as an emergency alert from the County of Grande Prairie.

BCWS staff say structure protection units have been set up to protect buildings in Kelly Lake. Currently, there are 92 firefighters, 11 helicopter crews and four heavy equipment strike teams assigned to the blaze, in addition to the structure protection units.

Meanwhile, the PRRD renewed evacuees’ emergency support services (ESS) on the weekend, extending them to June 8th.

Evacuees are also being warned that the ESS headquarters in Dawson Creek has relocated from Sudetan Hall to City Hall.

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