Fire crews have begun planned burn-offs to help contain Siphon Creek and Beatton Airport Road wildfires, the largest in the Peace Region at 58,630 hectares and 15,000 hectares, respectively.
Click here for a map of wildfires in B.C.
Fire officials now estimate the Beatton Airport Road fire to be 45 per cent contained. Previously, no containment figure estimates were available.
A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) is in effect for the Beatton Airport Road fire, advising anyone who may be flying over the area of the present wildfire circumstances.
The Siphon Creek wildfire is estimated to be 30 per cent contained. Attempted burn-offs have not been successful on this fire due to high humidity levels. When conditions are right, residents in the city and surrounding area may witness large plumes of smoke from the planned ignitions.
Beatton Airport Road
Location: Forty-five kilometres north of Fort St. John
Discovered: Mon., April 18, 2016
Size: An estimated 15,000 hectares
Status: This is an active fire that is approximately 45 per cent contained.
Evacuation alert: An evacuation alert is in effect. See prrd.bc.ca for more information.
Resources: One-hundred and forty-one firefighters, eight helicopters, and 16 pieces of heavy equipment. An 11-person Incident Management Team is co-ordinating the response to this wildfire.
More information: Fire crews are continuing to put in control lines and are preparing for a series of burn-offs as conditions allow to prevent the wildfire from spreading further.
Some burn-offs were performed on Tuesday, according to Paula Mackay, fire officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service.
“As far as I know they are not doing any today (May 11) . . . they’re going to keep their eyes on the weather and see, and if conditions allow, they will,” she said.
When burn-offs do start again, there will likely be reduced visibility on the Alaska Highway. Check drivebc.ca for current road conditions.
A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) is in effect for this fire, issued through Transport Canada, cautioning anyone who may be flying over the area.
Siphon Creek
Location: Siphon Creek Road, four kilometres south of the Doig River First Nations community.
Discovered: Mon., April 18, 2016.
Size: An estimated 58,630 hectares, with 41,470 hectares burning in British Columbia and 17,160 hectares in Alberta.
Status: This is an active fire that is approximately 30 per cent contained.
Evacuation alert: An evacuation alert is in effect. See prrd.bc.ca for more information.
Resources: One-hundred and sixty-six firefighters, eight helicopters, and 18 pieces of heavy equipment.
More information: Crews are waiting on good weather conditions to ignite planned burn-offs to prevent the wildfire from spreading further. Fort St. John and surrounding area residents may witness large plumes of smoke from these planned ignitions.
While the wildfire hasn’t grown over the last few days, there’s still a chance it might.
“It’s forecasted to get warmer, and so with that there may be winds, we don’t know,” said Noelle Kekula, fire information officer.
“We’ll see what happens, but the crews are working really hard, we got more crews last night coming in, and they’re really working the fire hard.”
Carter Road
Location: Ten kilometres northwest of Hudson’s Hope.
Discovered: Tues., April 19, 2016.
Size: An estimated 510 hectares.
Status: This is an active fire that is approximately 50 per cent contained.
Resources: Thirty-six firefighters, five helicopters, and four pieces of heavy equipment. Additionally, 15 support staff are working on this fire.
More information: A fire camp and Incident Management Team have been established in Hudson’s Hope to co-ordinate the response on this fire and the Halfway River fire.
Halfway River
Location: Thirty kilometres northeast of Hudson’s Hope, along the west side of the Halfway River.
Discovered: Tues., April 19, 2016.
Size: An estimated 1,434 hectares.
Status: This is an active fire that is approximately 25 per cent contained.
Resources: Thirty-six firefighters, five helicopters, and eight pieces of heavy equipment. Additionally, 15 support staff are working on this fire.
More information: A fire camp and Incident Management Team have been established in Hudson’s Hope to co-ordinate the response on this fire and the Carter Road fire.
