DAWSON CREEK - The BC Wildfire Service says the Kiskatinaw River fire in the province’s northeast has stabilized thanks to rain over the weekend.
BC Wildfire Service fire behaviour analyst Neal McLoughlin says in a video post on Sunday that a low-pressure system had moved into the region, bringing cloudy skies and soaking rain, with 10 millimetres of rainfall on Saturday and another 12 millimetres on Sunday.
McLoughlin says the change in weather has helped reduce fire activity for the Kiskatinaw River Wildfire, located nearly 60 kilometres southeast of Dawson Creek, B.C.
The BC Wildfire Service says the fire is now measured at more than 266 square kilometres in size and is considered an out-of-control wildfire of note.
“When we receive this amount of rain on a fire, it’s going to take several days of hot, dry conditions before our fuel moisture conditions recover and allow the fire to become active on the surface again,” McLoughlin says in the video.
“So this change in weather has really given us the upper hand for the next week to get ahead of fire suppression activities.”
But, he notes, the northeast has been “experiencing several years of drought,” so while the rain improves firefighting conditions, the landscape is still receptive to fire.
“Twenty millimetres of rain is wonderful, but we know there’s hot spots still within the fire perimeter, and we also know that there’s deep underlying drought, and so within a week of drying conditions, we could see active fire on the surface again, and for that reason, we need to maintain active fire suppression over the weeks to come and wrap this fire.”
Multiple evacuation orders and alerts issued by the Peace River Regional District due to the Kiskatinaw River wildfire are still remain in effect.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2025.
