BC Wildfire Service provides YouTube update on Kiskatinaw River wildfire

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — The province’s wildfire authority says changing conditions could shift the fight against the Kiskatinaw River wildfire, according to a new video published to YouTube.

The BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) said the fire, now at 26,372 hectares, continues to “burn deep” and impact root systems.

Stefan Hood, the incident commander on the fire, said in the 90-second video published on June 29th there is a crew of 140 people assigned to the blaze.

“We’re seeing an increase in wind and an increase in temperature over the next couple of days that will show us the spots that we’re going to need to focus our efforts [on],” said Hood.

“The challenges they’re facing are the ongoing drought in the area that has impacted the root systems to the trees. So we have not just danger[ous] trees, but also very deep burning.”

Hood mentioned there is unburned fuel within areas “between the body of the fire and the guard” which crews have built.  

While he acknowledged it may “take a long time” for crews to get to those areas, Hood said the work is preserved throughout the 130-kilometre containment zone around the fire to ensure flare-ups won’t happen in the future. 

Hood said the crews would be working on building a containment line for two to three weeks.

“Once we feel that we’ve achieved that containment objective, we’ll still have people here working in conjunction with the Dawson Creek zone,” said Hood. “They’ll be patrolling this fire for some time to come.”

The fire was first reported on May 28th, approximately 58 kilometres south of Dawson Creek and is believed to have been caused by a lightning strike.  

It caused evacuation notices in both the community of Kelly Lake and in Alberta’s County of Grande Prairie, with the most recent alert on Saturday, June 28th. 

The full video can be seen here. Check Energeticcity.ca’s wildfire page for the most up-to-date information.