Hundreds on evacuation alert as new wildfires sparked across B.C.

THE LATEST:

• An evacuation order is in place for part of the district of Wells, south of Prince George. About 200 people are affectedby a related evacuation alert.
• B.C. Parks has closed the Ancient Forest/Chun T'oh Whudujut Park east of Prince George due to wildfire risk.
• The province is seeking help from other regions to deal with dozens of new fires that have sparked in recent days.
• An evacuation alert remains in place for about 200 properties south of Dawson Creek and an order is still in place for a remote First Nation north of Fort Nelson.

Hundreds of people in B.C.'s Interior and north have been told to be ready to leave their homes at a moment's notice as dozens of new wildfires have sparked across the province.

Residents of Wells,in the Cariboo region, as well as rural residents south of Dawson Creek, in the province's northeast, have been placed under evacuation alert due to the potential risk of wildfire to homes and lives. An alert means residents must be ready to leave at a moment's notice.

Fires have also closed an ancient rainforest park in the B.C. Interior.

In response, the province is seeking outside help to aid crews in tackling the more than 150fires currently burning across the province.

Emergency Management MinisterBowinn MasaidB.C. is seeking out-of-province help from six unit crews representing 180 specialized wildfire fighters, plus management teams to help deal withwhat she calls the "potential for a drastically accelerated wildfire situation."

"We do want to be prepared, and so by being proactive in our request for additional resources, we can ensure that the lag that it often takes for additional resources to come in from out of province doesn't impact our ability to protect communities and protect British Columbians," she said at a news conference Thursday.

WATCH | Officials update the provincial wildfire situation:

Officials provide update on wildfire situation in B.C.

21 days ago

Duration 39:05

B.C.'s Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness and other officials will provide information on wildfires in the province.

Ma said about 500 of the province's full complement of 2,000 firefighters are currently deployed, but the province is seeking outside help early as the situation worsened due to a heat wave and ongoing dry conditions.

Cliff Chapman, director of provincial operations with the B.C. WildfireService,said firefighting crews are "flooding" impacted areas with resources, including air tankers and helicopters.

The government of Nova Scotia has already said it is sending 20 firefighters to the Prince George region to support wildfire fighting in the region, with an expected deployment on Friday.

Chapman said they are also looking for additional firefighting planes that scoop water from lakes and dump them onfires, to supplement the fleet of 135 aircraft currently flying in the province.

Chapman said the outside firefighters would ensurewildfirecrews soon "have the adequate breaks that they need," allowing them to continue working into July, August and September.

"It's also to ensure that we are prepared and so that we do not have to take all of our resources out of the north if we start to seefiresin the central and the south of British Columbia," said Chapman.

Hundreds in Wells under evacuation alert

The majority of new fires are in the Prince George and Cariboo fire districts, covering central and northeastern B.C.wherethe B.C. Wildfire Service's map shows a cluster of about two dozen new fires sparked in the Cariboo region east of Quesnel.

In the District of Wells, officials say the Cornish Mountain wildfire is a threat to life and safety, and residents affected by the order must leave immediately.

WellsMayor Ed Coleman said the order covers a small mine site of about 10 employees, as well as backcountry recreation lakes.

It also includes the Eight-Mile Lake and Nine-Mile Lake areas, Cornish Lakeand Mine Sites.

The evacuation alert affects about 350 properties, including homes, businesses and Crown lots, he said.

About 218 residents live in the area, and there are about 250 visitors.

The alert also covers Barkerville Historic Town, a gold rush-era community that acts as a major tourist draw to the region.

On social media channels, Barkerville says it is still open,adding that it is "business as usual" for "the time being."

Officials said in a news conference Thursday morning that crews, helicopters and air tankers have been fighting the fire since Wednesday night.

The fire is still out of control but is being held and isn't currently moving toward the community, said Coleman.

Rainforest wildfire closes inland park

Also east of Prince George, wildfires have closed theAncient Forest/Chun T'oh Whudujut Park, a provincial park housing ancient cedar rainforest.

The B.C. Wildfire map shows two wildfires burning within park boundaries, with a third just outside its southern border.

All three are less than onesquare kilometre.

B.C. Parks says the decision to close the area was made in the interest of public safety.

The B.C. Wildfire Service says lightning caused several fires to start in the area along the Highway 16 corridor between Prince George and McBride, near Jasper, Alberta.

"Travellers should be aware of an increase in visible smoke in the area," it said. But "there are no current or anticipated impacts to the highway."

Officials encouraged travellers to check DriveBC.ca for updates on Highway 16, as well as two other wildfiresburning near provincial highways.

Smoke from the two-square-kilometre Little Oliver Creek fire will be visible from Highway 16 and the Terrace,B.C. area, the wildfire service said.

Meanwhile, the 3.5-square-kilometre Hook Creek fire is burning out of control to the north, near a stretch of the Alaska Highway along the boundary with Yukon.

Wildfires, smoke affecting northeast

Further north, more than 300 properties have been placed under an evacuation alert near Dawson Creek, B.C., after the Tupper Creek wildfire was discovered Tuesday.

Also in northeasternB.C., theFortNelsonFirst Nation issued an evacuation order Tuesday for its Kahntah reserve, telling residents they had to leave by boat due to the threat of an out-of-control blaze discovered the day before.

Smoke in the region has been clogging up skies and affectinghealth, said MLA Dan Davies.

"My constituency assistant ... her eyes are red. She couldn't see the parking lot across from the office," he said. "It is very, very bad. It's horrendous."

Seasonal conditions to return

Parts of B.C. also continueto experience a prolonged heat wave, with heat warnings still in effect in the southern Interior. The weather is expected to cool in that region after Thursday.

Environment Canada said 17 daily heat records were set or tied in the province Wednesday. At 40.5 C, the village of Warfield in the West Kootenay regionwas the hottest place in Canada on Wednesday.

In a situation update posted Thursday, the B.C. Wildfire Service said temperatures are beginning to return to normal in the north, with rain and strong winds forecast for the far north, including Fort Nelson.

Because of the prolonged heat, the service says, the province is more susceptible to new wildfires starting.

In response, aB.C.-wide campfire ban is going into place at noon Friday to try to reduce wildfire risk. The sole exception to the ban is in the Haida Gwaii Forest District.