The wildfire that sparked Friday and caused evacuation orders for more than 3,000 people in Fort Nelson, B.C., and the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has grown to nearly 1,700 hectares in size, according to a Saturday morning update from the BC Wildfire Service.
Some people living northwest of the community were given just minutes to leave their homes as authorities implemented “tactical evacuations” Friday evening.
“It literally would have been firefighters and RCMP knocking on the doors of those rural community members that are within a kilometre of where that fire is burning and saying, ‘You need to get out,'” explained Rob Fraser, mayor of the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, of which Fort Nelson is the administrative centre.
Now known as the Parker Lake fire, the blaze is considered a “wildfire of note,” meaning it is highly visible or poses a threat to public safety.
There are four initial attack crews and one unit crew from the BCWS responding to the wildfire, and nine helicopters are fighting it from the air. An incident management team and a structure protection specialist are also on scene, according to the wildfire service.
The fire grew rapidly after its discovery Friday afternoon, surging from an initial 50 hectares to approximately 800 by the service’s final update of the night. By Saturday morning, the size had doubled to 1,696 hectares.
Speaking to CTV News Friday night, fire information officer Sharon Nickel, of the BCWS’s Prince George Fire Centre, said 70-kilometre-per-hour winds from the west and northwest had driven the fire’s explosive growth.
Nickel also noted the region’s sustained drought conditions as a contributing factor.
“With that deep, persistent drought, those fuels are really available for consumption, and when those really dry fuels do have the chance to ignite, the spread is quite rapid,” she said.
While winds continue to blow from the west and northwest, both Nickel and Fraser said they expected to see less growth from the blaze on Saturday.
The mayor described himself as “anxious, but optimistic” Friday night.
He said the community has been dealing with two large “holdover fires” from last season that have seen increased activity as the weather has warmed up.
The municipality issued evacuation alerts related to those fires.
While the sudden, rapid growth of the Parker Lake fire was unexpected, Fraser said he did not sense any panic in the community.
“Although it was a surprise, I think people were generally prepared because of the discussion that’s been going around in the community over the last couple of weeks,” he said.
The mayor was unable to say whether there had been any injuries or any structures damaged in the wildfire, which he said he believes began when a dead tree was blown onto power lines by high wind.
“Some of those houses that are north and west of the community are at imminent risk,” Fraser said. “There’s no doubt about that.”
The BCWS lists the blaze as “human caused,” though that designation means: “a wildfire of undetermined cause, including a wildfire that is currently under investigation, as well as one where the investigation has been completed.”
Fraser said the centre of Fort Nelson is under less threat from the blaze than the rural areas that surround it.
“Between where the fire is burning now and the community is a large agricultural area – a lot of fields – so that will help to slow down and direct the fire in a more southerly direction,” he said.
While the wind is not expected to be as strong on Saturday as it was Friday, there’s no rain in the forecast until Wednesday evening, according to Environment Canada, which says there’s a 60-per-cent chance of showers that night and on Thursday.
With files from The Canadian PressÂ
