THE LATEST:
Officials in B.C. are helping co-ordinate the evacuation of Jasper National Park in Alberta while also managing more than 300 wildfires burning from Vancouver Island to the province’s far northeast.
B.C. wildfire crews were challenged by unstable weather conditions Monday as thunderstorms and strong winds rolled through the province’s Interior and north.
A persistent heat wave throughout July has dried out forests in many parts of B.C., setting the stage for potentially extreme fire behaviour.
There are more than 350 fires burning throughout the province — with evacuation orders for more than 440 properties and alerts for over 3,000 in a situation the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness has called “dynamic and ever-changing.”
“This is, unfortunately, the beginning of the fire season that we were concerned about,” Premier David Eby said during an unrelated news conference Monday.
Several detours are in effect due to wildfires, with the Ministry of Transportation warning more roads and highways could be closed with little notice. Drivers are advised to visit drivebc.ca for the latest information.
More than 100 properties south of Silverton village are on evacuation order due to the Slocan Lakes Fire Complex. The entire village and its surroundings are also on evacuation alert. We spoke with Silverton’s mayor about the wildfire situation and how residents are feeling.
Evacuees from Alberta
B.C. is set to host hundreds of evacuees from neighbouring Alberta, where a fast-moving wildfire is threatening the community of Jasper, Alta., and its eponymous national park.
Residents and visitors were told to take Highway 16 into B.C., rather than heading farther east into Alberta where highways have been closed.
In a post on X Monday night, B.C. Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma said the province would do “everything we can to provide safe refuge for evacuees” and that officials were working “as quickly as possible to co-ordinate routes and arrange host communities” to take people in.
Wildfires in the region have also closed B.C’s Highway 16 eastbound from Tête Jaune Cache toward the Alberta border, covering Mount Robson Provincial Park. The westbound lane was to remain open for evacuees.
Evacuation orders in central B.C.
Some parts of the community of Williams Lake — which was evacuated for weeks in 2017 due to wildfires — are under evacuation alert due to nearby wildfires on Tuesday.
Crews gained “significant ground” against the fire Monday, the city said in an evening update, with plans to establish more protections Tuesday morning.
A local state of emergency remains in place.
Two other communities in the Cariboo region — Wells and Barkerville — are under evacuation order due to the Antler Creek wildfire just southeast of the community.
The B.C. Wildfire Service says that the blaze may increase in size due to smaller wildfires nearby potentially merging with it.
Carrie Johnston, one of around 200 Wells residents who had to leave her home, said that she was receiving an overwhelming amount of support in the community of Quesnel, where she had to flee.
“It’s a really strong family community, and I don’t have to tell anybody how special Barkerville is to every citizen in the entire province of British Columbia,” she told CBC News of her home and the efforts to save it.
“People are going to extra effort. There are people, you know, not being paid … that are putting in a massive amount of effort.”
Another blaze of note is the Shetland Creek fire, which has put thousands of people on alert in the Ashcroft area west of Kamloops after forcing evacuations on Friday that were expanded Monday.
The wildfire, last measured at 200 square kilometres, forced the closure of Highway 1 between Ashcroft and Spences Bridge throughout Monday. The next update is expected at noon PT on Tuesday.
In the east, the Aylwin Creek and Komonko Creek fires in the Central Kootenays have placed hundreds of people on evacuation alert.
B.C.’s escalating fire situation has many residents on edge. In Nakusp, some residents are choosing to jump into action and take matters into their own hands to fight wildfires. They fear the logging roads would pose a challenge for local firefighters.