Wind expected to return as crews continue to battle Parker Lake Wildfire

The Parker Lake Wildfire is continuing to grow according to the BC Wildfire Service and the provincial government.

“This is an extremely difficult time for the people that have been impacted,” said Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma.

Ma reported the Parker Lake Wildfire, located 2.5 kilometres west of Fort Nelson, has now grown to over 8,433 hectares.

“The next 48 hours will be a challenging situation for the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, given forecasted ongoing westerly winds, and extremely dry and volatile fuels in the area,” Ma continued.

“We may begin to see volatile wildfire activity later this afternoon.”

“Last night (Sunday) we were expecting to see those westerly winds kind of pick up later into the evening and last throughout the night,” added BC Wildfire Service Director of Operations Cliff Chapman.

“Fortunately we didn’t see those winds materialize last night, but we do expect them to return later this morning, and early into the afternoon.”

Chapman said they’re anticipating sustained 25 to 30 kilometre an hour winds.

There are currently 69 firefighters on the ground fighting the fire, in addition to 19 helicopters, 17 pieces of heavy equipment, four structure protection specialists, and an incident management team.

“We are mobilizing additional resources for the Prince George Fire Centre,” Chapman said.

“We have responded all the requests that have come from the Prince George Fire Centre using our internal BC Wildfire Service resources, but additionally, we have had tremendous support from municipal fire departments and local governments in response to both the Parker Lake Wildfire and any other fires we have in the Prince George Fire Centre.”

Chapman added bringing in additional resources from outside of the province is not needed at this time, but they have the ability to do so when it’s needed.

⛔️CLOSURE REMINDER #BCHwy77 & #BCHwy97 – due to the #wildfire near #FortNelson, these highway closures will be in effect until further notice.
For more details, click the links:
ℹ️ 77: https://t.co/7G4JABVAYK
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ℹ️ 97: https://t.co/9ZbGxjg5Ba pic.twitter.com/tv6Y3kMpNh

— DriveBC (@DriveBC) May 13, 2024