The Fort Nelson First Nation (FNFN) issued an Evacuation Alert Tuesday for its Fontas Reserve, where three wildfires are burning near Sikanni Old Growth Provincial Park.
The nation says the area southeast of Fort Nelson, includes one inhabited home and “many cultural sites.”
The Evacuation Alert includes the following areas:
- The geographical location of the Peace River district, Fontas 1 (06591) Lot 2318, approximately 10 hectares within the Klua Lakes area
- The latitude and longitude are 58° 17 ‘9.24 north and 121° 43’ 36.73 west
- 76km southeast of the FNFN community
- 61km northeast of the community of Prophet River
- The right bank of the Fontas River, one mile east of the mouth of the Sikanni River
The FNFN said residents should be “ready at a moment’s notice” to leave. “Due to the risk of wildfire, Fort Nelson First Nation is urging residents and visitors within the Fontas area to evacuate if ordered to do, so by emergency officials,” said the First Nation.
The largest of the three fires is burning out of control, west of the Sikanni Chief River. It’s grown in size to 1,434 hectares.
The other two fires are burning out of control, east of the Sikanni Chief River. The fire that is in close proximity to the Sikanni Old Growth Provincial Park is 118 hectares in size. The other fire is one hectare in size and is burning three kilometres south of the Fontas River.
