On Tuesday, the province declared a state of emergency to support the ongoing wildfire response. The declaration is in effect starting July 21st for 14 days and may be extended or rescinded as necessary.
The state of emergency applies to the whole province and ensures federal, provincial and local resources can be delivered in a coordinated response to protect the public, says the province.
Wildfire smoke is still visible in the Fort St. John area and is expected to remain for the next couple of days, according to FireSmoke Canada.
The air quality index in Fort St. John area is at a four a moderate health risk.
Evacuation Order for the Cutoff Creek blaze downgraded to an Alert
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There has been some progress on the fires raging across the Prince George Fire Centre.
The Cutoff Creek blaze, south of Fraser Lake and the largest in the PG Fire Centre has been downgraded from a Evacuation Order to an Evacuation Alert.
Sharon Nickel with the PG Fire Centre said the amount of resources on the Cutoff Creek wildfire had changed, saying there were 56 firefighters, 9 structural protection unit personnel, three helicopters, and 30 pieces of equipment on site.
“So it (Tentfire Creek wildfire) is now being held, and it’s at 2,400 hectares in size. We’ve got 15 firefighters, one helicopter, and 8 pieces of heavy equipment on that one,” said Nickel.
Rainfall in the area approaching 12 millimetres has been helpful, and more is forecasted for the next few days. Crews and heavy equipment remain on scene to battle sections of the fire that are accessible.
The Hook Creek fire is being monitored by both the BC Wildfire and Parks Services. The district is aware that the fire is visible from Kinuseo Falls.
While BC Wildfire Service says there’s no plan to prohibit access by boat, individuals travelling into the area are urged to use caution. Road access to Monkman Provincial Park is still closed at the boundary.
The District’s Emergency Operations Centre remains active to coordinate the gathering and releasing of information. The most up-to-date information can be found on the District of Tumbler Ridge website.
PRINCE GEORGE Help has arrived from Alberta to help out in the firefighting effort in the Prince George Fire Centre.
Seventeen firefighters have arrived and have been deployed to where they are the most needed – including one crew sent to Tumbler Ridge, one to Mackenzie and another to Vanderhoof.
Meantime, two evacuation orders remain in place in the Prince George Fire Centre. They are for the 2,800 hectare lightning caused Grizzly Lake fire and for the 14,000 hectare Cutoff Creek blaze.
The Shesta Lake fire is the closest to Prince George and is estimated to be just over 5 hectares in size and out-of-control. That fire is located about 35 kilometres southwest of Prince George.
35% of total wildfires this season are human caused
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Officials from BC Wildfire Service and Emergency Management BC provided some updates on the current wildfires raging across the province, and the efforts going into battling them.
“Since April 1st, 2021, BC Wildfire Service has responded to almost 1100 incidents, resulting in approximately 203,000 hectares burnt to date. To give you an idea for this time of the year how that relates to the 10-year average, at this time of year we would normally be sitting around 209 wildfires, and around 60,000 hectares burnt,” said Kurtis Isfeld with BC Wildfire Service.