New BC Wildfire Evacuation Orders and Alerts in Effect as Blaze Near Fort Nelson Grows

Food and animal supplies are available for evacuees at the North Peace Arena in Fort St. John, B.C., on May 13, 2024. Wildfires are forcing more people to evacuate their homes in dry and windy northeastern B.C. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jesse Boily)

Another British Columbia community has been ordered to evacuate as wildfires continue their path of destruction in the province’s northeast region.

The Peace River Regional District issued an evacuation order for the Doig River area May 13 just after 9 p.m. MST. Doig River First Nation also issued an order for its community of just over 300 residents.

The regional district is advising residents within the evacuation area to gather “critical items” and head to an evacuation centre in Fort St. John.

Located approximately 60 kilometres northeast of Fort St. John, the latest evacuation area is roughly 400 kilometres south of Fort Nelson which was evacuated last week after the wind blew a tree down onto a power line, igniting a wildfire nine kilometres west of the community.

Rob Fraser, mayor of the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality based in Fort Nelson, says fewer than 100 households remain occupied and residents are being contacted directly about evacuating the area.

“We put a big push on to try to get as many people out of the community as we could,” the mayor said in a video posted to Facebook late May 13.

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The municipality’s emergency operations centre called as many people as they had phone numbers for, and managed to convince some of the holdouts to leave, the mayor said, adding that he suspects about 50 “civilians” remain in Fort Nelson.

As of early morning on May 14, the fire had swelled to more than 84 square kilometres, marking significant growth from the previous day when it was estimated to be 50 square kilometres in size.

Despite forecasts predicting winds late May 13 and 14 would blow the Parker Lake wildfire closer toward Fort Nelson, it remains roughly 1.5 kilometres from the town, home to nearly 5,400 residents.

“This really is going to be weather dependent, and so far the weather has been holding with us,” Mr. Fraser said, noting that the winds haven’t been as strong as they were last week when they were blowing up to 70 kilometres an hour.

“If the weather holds and the wind conditions stay in our favour then I’m optimistic that this thing might not come into the town, but that’s all weather dependent.”

The electricity and water remain functional in Fort Nelson, the mayor said, noting that power is of particular concern for evacuees who are worried about their homes.

Emergency Preparedness Minister Bowinn Ma said dry conditions and westerly winds continue to create “extremely challenging conditions” for crews battling the blaze.

“We know that drought conditions have persisted,” she said at a May 13 press conference. “This has made the hills in the area extremely dry with no precipitation, no major precipitation in the forecast ahead. And with winds that can pick up at any time—let’s just say we are extremely concerned.”

Truax Creek Alert

The Truax Creek area, on the south side of Carpenter Lake, is also being closely monitored as a potential fire risk after an out of control wildfire was discovered May 12 west of Lillooet.

The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District has issued an evacuation alert saying that “anyone in the affected area must be ready to leave on short notice.”

The BC Wildfire Service website describes the Truax Creek wildfire as roughly 450 acres in size and burning out of control 12 kilometres northeast of the tiny community of Gold Bridge, located more than three hours north of Pemberton.

“BC Wildfire Service personnel are currently onsite and are reporting rank 3-4 fire behaviour, meaning moderate to highly vigorous surface fire with some torching,” the service said in a May 13 Facebook post. “The wildfire is expected to remain active and visible overnight.”

The fire is suspected to be human caused, BC Wildfire Service said.

By the end of day May 13, BC Wildfire Service was reporting a total of 131 wildfires, 14 of which were out of control. The Parker Lake wildfire was the only blaze deemed to be a potential threat to public safety as of publication.

Manitoba Blaze

A fire in the northwestern region of Manitoba is threatening the community of Cranberry Portage and forced the evacuation of more than 600 people over the weekend to shelter in The Pas, a community about an hour’s drive south of the town.

Manitoba wildfire director Earl Simmons said in the 40 years he’s been working with wildfires, he’s never seen one move like the blaze threatening Carberry Portage.

The fire, which was first detected last week near Flin Flon by the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border, was started by lightning and exacerbated by very dry conditions and strong winds over the weekend. Mr. Simmons said the fire had been growing two kilometres an hour on the head, or the front of the fire.

A reduction in wind speed, however, has kept the size of the fire consistent and it has not moved any closer to Cranberry Portage. A May 13 fire bulletin from the Manitoba government said the blaze was 1.5 kilometres away from the town.

The wildfire has yet to pose a threat to Flin Flon, but it has cut cell phone service and internet access to the town of roughly 5,000.

Alberta Fires

The wildfire that prompted an evacuation alert in Fort McMurray, Alta., has yet to creep closer to the city of 68,000 people.

An evening notice from Alberta Wildfire May 13 said the fire remained approximately 16 kilometres southeast of Fort McMurray and 12 kilometres west of Highway 63, despite an increase in fire activity due to the sun and shifting winds.

“Firefighters continue to work on establishing a containment line and heavy equipment are working on a fire guard on the northeast edge,” the agency said. “Helicopters and air tankers are dropping water on the active edges of the fire. There are 46 firefighters and 13 helicopters currently assigned to the wildfire.”

The cause of this wildfire remains under investigation.

Another 14-square-kilometre blaze near the hamlet of Teepee Creek in northwestern Alberta is also facing extreme wildfire conditions, with gusty winds and no precipitation in the forecast.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.