The BC Wildfire Service is tracking 100 active wildfires, as of Tuesday evening, seven of which were discovered in the last 24 hours, and two of which are “wildfires of note.”
The Little Oliver Creek wildfire and Hook Creek wildfire are both classified as “wildfire of note” and “out-of-control” by the BCWS.
The Little Oliver Creek wildfire, discovered on Monday, is about 45 kilometres northeast of Terrace and “highly visible” from Highway 16, according to BCWS. The Hook Creek wildfire is near the B.C.-Yukon border and the Alaska Highway.
Information Officer at the Northwest Fire Center Morgan Blois tells CityNews that the Little Oliver Creek wildfire is 103 hectares in size, and is along Highway 16.
“Air tankers were on site this morning, and they put a line of retardant between the fire perimeter and Highway 16 on the southwest flank,” she said.
She said crews did that in order to try and push that rate of spread into the Alpine and away from the highway.
“There are two initial attack crews on-site and a five-pack of contract crew firefighters, as well as two helicopters,” she said. “Additional resources are being requested to help bolster the suppression efforts.”
Blois says although it’s a “wildfire of note” as of Tuesday evening it is not “impacting or threatening any structures.”
Blois says the Hook Creek wildfire, discovered on Sunday, is burning at a size of approximately 240 hectares (the BCWS website is reporting 250 hectares).
“We are seeing some growth on it today due to hot and dry conditions,” she said. “There’s a crew on site that’s being supported by a helicopter that is bucketing on the fire, so dropping buckets of water to cool the rate of spread.”
Blois tells CityNews that air tankers responded on Tuesday and dropped some retardant so that crews could start some guard on the fire. She says on Wednesday crews will continue suppression efforts at Hook Creek.
“Tomorrow, we are expecting just over 20 firefighters from the Yukon,” she said. “There will be some heavy machinery.”
The BCWS says the Little Oliver Creek wildfire is suspected to be human-caused and the cause of the Hook Creek wildfire is unknown but ‘under investigation.’
-With files from Anthony Atanasov.