Kiskatinaw River wildfire set to grow but BCWS says it doesn’t anticipate evacuation alerts for more communities

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — The Kiskatinaw River wildfire is set to grow, although communities which have not already been put under evacuation alerts or orders are not expected to be impacted.

That’s according to the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS), which says the fire south of Dawson Creek is large and forecast to be worsened by wind conditions coming in the remainder of the week.

It made the prediction during a media briefing on Wednesday, June 4th with BCWS’ fire information officer Karley Desrosiers, Peace River Regional District (PRRD) Area D director Leonard Hiebert, Ryan Kirkham of the PRRD’s emergency operations centre and Chelsea Mottishaw from the emergency support services team.

Desrosiers says there has been “significant growth” of the fire, which is located 58 kilometres south of Dawson Creek toward both the community of Kelly Lake and the B.C.-Alberta border.

“As it stands right now, conditions in the coming days will be dangerous,” said Desrosiers. “We are expecting significant wildfire growth as winds increase throughout the week.

“On Monday, we saw winds that would be considered moderate relative to what is coming tomorrow and Friday. Forecast winds to reach over 50 kilometres tomorrow and on Friday, winds upwards of 60 kilometres an hour [will] continue to push this wildfire towards the east, especially the northeast. The wildfire is currently not in the Kelly Lake community, but it is moving in that direction. So this is a very high-risk situation.”

Hiebert said the fire, now reaching 6,532 hectares as of the last update, has been an “extremely challenging and stressful situation” for the region, but maintains the community will “get through it together.”

Despite the grim forecast, Desrosiers does not believe more evacuations, as the areas in danger have already been put under evacuation alerts or orders, although she did say there was “a possibility.”

“We will continue to make recommendations to the regional district as this fire does evolve with the potential for significant growth,” said Desrosiers.

For those in need of emergency support services from the City of Dawson Creek, help is available through the Emergency Support Services line on 250-784-4681.

The line is available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and an emergency support services reception centre will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Dawson Creek City Hall from Wednesday to Friday.