BC’s forest fire service said firefighters experienced a slight postponement that fought against one of their most worrisome fires on Saturday, and was to see stable skies in the northeast corner of the province.
However, another cold front is expected to bring strong winds from Sunday night to Monday, and the conditions remain hot and dry in BC.
In addition, motorists are encouraged at the north end to verify the state of the Alaska road (97 Highway) that continues to be threatened by a forest fire.
However, for the Kiskatinaw river forest fire in the Northeast on the border of BC-Alberta, firefighters say that strong winds predicted on Friday night did not materialize.
“We had quieter winds during the night of what we expected and there was a very minimal fire behavior,” said fire information officer Karley Desrosiers on Saturday morning. “Limited growth [is] expected.”
The fire covered an area of 130.6 square kilometers until Saturday afternoon, and has resulted in evacuation orders for more than 50 properties in the Kelly Lake community.
The 52 EAST highway remains closed due to the fire, which has jumped the bc-alberta border and is burning near the Steeprock Pembina gas processing installation.
“The fire remains north of Lake Kelly and south of Lake Kelly, but has not reached the community itself,” said DESOSIERS.
“We have structural protection personnel who continue working in the community to extinguish hot points as they occur.”
The Kiskatinaw River forest fire out of control in BC crossed Alberta at dawn on Friday afternoon, which caused an Alberta emergency alert and an expanded evacuation order in the county of Grande Prairie.
Emelie Peacock, another fire information officer, said that a continuous heat wave in the southern half of the province was increasing the danger of forest fires, but much of the fire activity of the province is concentrated in the north.
Until Saturday afternoon, 64 of the 69 active fires of the province were located in the northeast section of the province.
“Fortunately, today we are seeing only some smoked conditions, but quite stable skies,” Peacock said Saturday.
However, Peacock warned that another cold front would come on Sunday, bringing strong winds and adding to hot and dry conditions.
“This challenging climate is bringing winds from 30 to 50 [km/h]bursts up to 75 km/h, “he said.
“This climate is likely to bring a potential for the extreme behavior of fire and the growth of fire in those that currently burn forest fires.”
Fire Salta Alaska Highway
In the northern bc, multiple fires are burning in the Fort Nelson area, some of which burned during the winter and resurfaced this spring.
The Forest Fire of Lake Summit is burning near the Alaska Highway (Autopista 97) west Fort Nelson, and has resulted in evacuation orders for a section of properties along the road.
The fire information officer, Madison Dahl, said the fire grew on his southwest flank during the night on Saturday and crossed the road in that area, and that a greater growth was not unexpected. It covers an area of 106.6 square kilometers from Saturday afternoon.
“Today’s teams are focusing their efforts to ensure that the active flame front and any danger tree adjacent to highway 97, do not represent a risk for public security,” News told CBC on Saturday.
“We want to make sure that the forest fire has not affected the integrity of the 97 highway and that we can safely allow traveling to people in that corridor.”
DRIVEBC has the latest information for highway 97. Without deviation available, Dahl urged travelers in the area to be patient.
“We are doing everything possible to facilitate safe trips, but again, security is our number one priority and, unless it is sure to do so, the road will remain closed,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fort Nelson’s first nation issued an evacuation order for the Kahnntah area on Friday night and improved an evacuation alert for the plumbing area due to nearby fires.
There are also special statements of air quality issued for the regions of Fort Nelson and Peace River on Saturday due to the smoke of forest fires.
