B.C. firefighters bolstered by international help work to tame dozens of wildfires

Wildfire crews in B.C. have tamed a pair of wildfires in the province’s Cariboo region, but continue to grapple with stubborn blazes burning out of control elsewhere. 

The BC Wildfire Service says firefighters aided by heavy equipment and aerial support tamed the Branch Road wildfire, which is now considered “being held” at under 14 square kilometres. 

The service also says it doesn’t expect the Townsend Creek wildfire to grow any more, held at about 27 square kilometres, a blaze that spurred an evacuation alert on July 8 that remains in place. 

The Cariboo Regional District issued a new evacuation alert on Tuesday covering a 320-square-kilometre area around Anahim Peak, northwest of Williams Lake, B.C. 

The alert concerns 30 parcels of land, but the regional district did not specify how many residents the alert may affect. 

More than 450 active fires are burning across B.C., most caused by lightning, and this year’s wildfire season has burned almost 15,000 square kilometres of land, breaking the record set in 2018. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2023. 

The Canadian Press