5,000 remain on wildfire evacuation alert in BC

With more evacuation alerts and orders possibly on the horizon, 550 people across BC are currently evacuated from their homes with another 5,000 on alert – down from 7,000 on alert yesterday (Tuesday).

The Antler Creek wildfire near Wells and Barkerville is responsible for most of the evacuation orders.

There are 434 active wildfires in BC right now, 259 are considered out of control.

These numbers do not include the wildfire that has impacted British Columbia the most in the last 48 hours, the now 10,800 hectare fire south of Jasper, which sent an estimated 20,000 – 25,000 evacuees into BC.

“Monday evening, the entire town of Jasper and Jasper National Park was evacuated with very little notice. The only safe route for evacuees to travel west on Highway 16 into British Columbia,” Bowinn Ma, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, said at a provincial news conference this morning (Wednesday).

Traveling to reception centres in Grand Prairie, Calgary, and now Edmonton, many of these evacuees had to shelter in northern BC communities for at least a night.

“In Valemount, Pines Golf and RV Park opened their campground to over 600 people free of charge when their capacity is normally 100,” Ma proudly said. “The Clearwater Tim Hortons crew started extra early to be able to serve fresh coffee to evacuees.”

Between 100 and 150 people also landed in Prince George, though city officials said they “have not been authorized to provide vouchers for food or lodging,” despite being able to take in around 3,000 evacuees.

The Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness separately confirmed to My PG Now that this was Alberta’s decision, not BC’s or Prince George’s.

According to the Ministry, “The Province has not declined any requests for support from Alberta. The Province will continue to be there to support Alberta through this emergency, just as other provinces have assisted British Columbia in times of need,” and “The current instructions from Alberta emergency management officials are for Albertans and visitors who have evacuated to continue their travels to Grande Prairie, Calgary, [or Edmonton], where large centres are in place to provide coordinated support.”

Ma is urging everyone in the province to have an emergency plan in place in case of a sudden evacuation, and recommends having a grab and go bag ready.

Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston also spoke at the conference, he said there were more than 70,000 lightning strikes recorded in the province over the last three days.

The provincial forecast offers little relief, Ralston said “we are expecting high winds and thunderstorms that can increase the size of the fires as well as lead to new starts,” though he mentioned the heat is expected to lessen and rain is forecast in the northern end of the province.

A severe thunderstorm watch was issued  was in the Prince George area just before noon today.

The Prince George Fire Centre has been by far the most active in the province this year, 725,236 of the 810,630 total hectares burned in BC have been in the PG centre.

You can stay up to date on BC’s wildfire situation through the BC Wildfire Service’s wildfire dashboard.