Winds blowing across central British Columbia over the weekend led to an increase in wildfires and prompted new evacuation orders in remote areas north of Burns Lake.
The Cheslatta Carrier Nation and the Bulkley-Nechako Regional District both issued evacuation orders Saturday night due to the Wells Creek Wildfire.
This fire is declared out of control and covers 79 square kilometers.
The evacuation orders relate to properties along Ootsa Lake Road and several Cheslatta Carrier Nation reservation sites.
A BC Wildfire Service information officer said Sunday the weather in the area is improving, with winds reducing and a return to more seasonal temperatures.
“We had a big cold front in the northern areas on Friday and Saturday, and that brought a lot of wind, so we saw a lot of fires developing,” Nic Kokolski said. Now the winds have died down in the north, so it seems useful there. »
Northern and central parts of British Columbia as well as the rest of the province could benefit from sustained precipitation, which is not listed in the details, Kokolski added.
The Wells Creek evacuation orders came after similar orders, involving a total of 50 properties in West Kelowna, wildfire areas south of Kamloops and Shuswap Lake areas, were downgraded to state of alert on Saturday.
The move means dozens of people in the Kamloops, Shuswap and Kelowna areas can return home, but regional firefighters said residents should still be ready to leave on short notice.
There are currently 405 properties on evacuation orders and 20,011 on evacuation alert in the West Kelowna area.
The BC Wildfire Service reported Sunday that it had counted 438 active fires in British Columbia, including 23 new wildfires reported in the past 24 hours.
There have been 2,071 wildfires in British Columbia so far this season, the forest fire department said.
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2023-09-04 01:14:43
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