Wildland firefighters battling the Kiskatinaw River Wildfire are preparing for a challenging few days as strong winds could push flames closer to the small community of Kelly Lake, about 80 kilometres south of Dawson Creek.
The fire has exploded in size from 7,385 hectares on Thursday to 11,903 hectares on Friday. It is one of two ‘Wildfires of Note’ in the province.
Karley Desrosiers, a fire information officer with the BC Wildfire Service, told a news conference Friday that strong southwest winds Thursday pushed the Kiskatinaw River fire north and south of Kelly Lake.
The flames reached the edge of Kelly Lake as firefighters had to deal with spotting, as embers lit trees and grass on fire inside the community. According to the PRRD, no building have been lost to the fire.An eight- to nine-kilometre stretch crossed over the Alberta border.
“These are peoples’ homes. This is their community and to be displaced from your community due to a wildfire is a tragic event, and I know the province is doing the best they can. I would very much like to express my gratitude to the firefighters. They’ve done an amazing job,” said Larry Neufeld, the MLA for Peace River South.
A cold front Friday, which is forecast to begin around 5 p.m., is expected to shift what she called “strong, erratic, gusty winds.”
“So the wind will be pushing the fire from the northwest towards the southeast,” she told the news conference.
“So (with) the wind pushing the fire from the north, there is the potential for that flank that’s adjacent to the community, north of Kelly Lake, to move more toward the community.”
Desrosiers said flames were “within a kilometre, absolutely, more likely a couple 100 metres, of the community” as of early Friday afternoon and crews are working adjacent to homes to establish “containment” ahead of the wind shift.
Shelly Callliou was evacuated from her home. Calliou said, “I’m an optimist. I wanted to believe in my heart that our community that was built by our resilient ancestors you know would be protected, that we would have those homes to go back to. And currently, as far as I’m aware, those homes are still standing.”
Peace River Regional District issued a statement late Thursday urging all Kelly Lake residents under evacuation order to leave immediately, saying the advancing wildfire could not be contained.
Fire officials told the briefing that crews were in Kelly Lake on Thursday putting out “spot fires” in the community that had been ignited by falling embers in shrubs and grasses, and noted sprinkler systems had been set up and were running.
Helicopter pilots equiped with night-vison goggles have been bucketing the fire with water overnight.
Desrosiers said Sunday is expected to be another “challenging” day for the crews.
“As we progress through the day and through the weekend, temperatures are expected to rise, humidity will decrease, and winds will just become stronger,” she said.
“So (there are) a number of challenging days ahead of us, and certainly more aggressive fire behaviour, and the potential is there for more significant growth.”
The wildfire service’s provincial situation report says the passing cold fronts will bring very strong winds and the potential for “extreme fire behaviour” throughout the Dawson Creek, Fort St. John and Fort Nelson fire zones.
The wildfire service says in its latest situational report that very hot and dry conditions are forecast across the province this weekend, with Interior and southeast regions expected to see temperatures about five to 10 degrees above seasonal norms.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025 and contains files from CTV Vancouver’s Martin MacMahon.