With an aggressive wildfire threatening the Northern B.C. town of Fort Nelson, there are still some holdouts refusing to follow an evacuation order for the community.
The Parker Lake fire had rapidly spread to more than 52 square kilometres by Sunday night with the flames only 3.5 kilometres outside the community.
High winds are expected to push the fire wildfire directly toward Fort Nelson on Monday, and while 3,500 people have already left since an evacuation order was issued Friday evening, there are still 65 households — up to 150 people — that have not heeded the order.
“If you are still in Fort Nelson, or anywhere in the evacuation order of the Parker Lake wildfire, I encourage you to leave,” said Cliff Chapman, the director of provincial operations for the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS), during a briefing late Sunday.
“The fuels are as dry as we’ve ever seen, the wind is going to be sustained, and it is going to push the fire toward the community.”
A fire behaviour specialist for the BCWS said gusty winds predicted for Monday will further fan the the flames.
“It will create an extreme fire behaviour environment that will challenge current control lines and pose a safety concern to our wildfire personnel and emergency services,” said Ben Boghean, who added the winds should ease on Tuesday.
“But there is still going to be a threat in the area until we see some rain.”
Emergency Management Minister Bowin Ma took to social media Sunday to also encourage everyone under evacuation order in the Fort Nelson region to get out.
“The situation is evolving rapidly,” she said in a video posted on X. “BC Wildfire crews, local fire crews, aviation, heavy equipment, and structural protection are responding to the wildfire and they are doing everything they can to protect homes and the community.”
But Ma said support staff have been pulled from Fort Nelson because of the risk to the town.
“I want to be clear that no firefighting resources are leaving the area. However, to ensure continuity of operations, the BC Wildfire Service incident command team and the local emergency operations centre have departed Fort Nelson and are in the process of setting up in an alternate location. If you have not left the evacuation order area yet, please do so now.”
Ma is scheduled to provide an update on the wildfire situation in B.C.’s northeast at 10 a.m. Monday. CityNews will bring you live coverage of this event online. You can watch CityNews 24/7 live or listen live to CityNews 1130 to keep up to date with this developing story. You can also subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.