The Kiskatinaw River Wildfire is burning just 5 kilometres from Kelly Lake, but the BC Wildfire Service said the community is not in immediate danger.
“While things can change with wildfires, the fire is expected to grow slightly towards the east. Wind gusts of up to 50 km/h is driving fire behaviour, but it is not moving directly toward Kelly Lake,” said Karley Desrosier, an Information Officer with the BC Wildfire Service.
The fire started last Wednesday after a suspected lightning strike. The blaze is now listed at 3,901 hectares in size, which is down by about 600 hectares, from Friday’s estimate.
The BC Wildfire Service has established an Incident Management Team, based out of Dawson Creek to manage the ‘Wildfire of Note.’
Heavy equipment continues to work aroung the clock to build containment lines along the north, south and west flanks on the fire.
The wildfire service says helicopters are dropping water in areas where the blaze is most active to slow the spread and make it safer for crews on the ground.
Structure protection crews and 92 firefighters are being joined by air tankers and helicopters in fighting the fire.
While Fort St. John and Dawson Creek saw some much-needed rain this weekend, that wasn’t the case in the Kelly Lake area.
The fire has remained in a holding pattern since Friday. Lower humidity over the weekend helped limit the growth of the fire. However the fire intensified Sunday due to strong winds in the afternoon.
But that is about to change according to the wildfire service. Desrosier said, “There’s also a warming and drying trend in the forecast this week.”
Wind gusts up to 50 km/h and low humidity at night are also causes for concern for firefighters.
The Peace River Regional District said that they are not aware of any structures that have been lost to the wildfire.
Close to 70 people have been evacuated from their homes, while Dawson Creek RCMP said that 17 people have stay behind and defied the Evacuation Order.
There is also an Evacuation Alert in effect for the area, near One Island Lake to the BC Alberta border.
