Wildfires continue to grow throughout B.C.

The Donnie Creek wildfire is now the second largest wildfire in the province's recorded history. (Courtesy BC Wildfire Service)

Posted June 6, 2023 1:55 pm.

The BC Wildfire Service is battling a number of fires in the province, including one on Vancouver Island that has recently grown more than five times its original size.

The Cameron Bluffs wildfire has grown quite a bit since it was first discovered Saturday, the service notes.

In a tweet, the service says the fire has grown to about 109 hectares in size, up from 20 hectares.

“Crews are working on this incident and helicopters are bucketing inaccessible areas. Airtankers and skimmers are also supporting. No structures are currently threatened,” the tweet reads.

The fire is suspected to be human-caused.

The BC Wildfire Service continues to respond to the Cameron Bluffs wildfire west of Highway 4 near Cameron Lake (V70600). The fire has grown to an estimated 109 hectares. pic.twitter.com/nrsdTCLbZa

— BC Wildfire Service (@BCGovFireInfo) June 6, 2023

Also on Vancouver Island, the Newcastle Creek wildfire is currently listed as being held as of Sunday, but is still listed as burning at 208 hectares.

Prince George Fire Centre sees new fires

The Prince George Fire Centre is also seeing a number of fires throughout the area, with several new fires listed as out-of-control.

Most prominently, the Donnie Creek wildfire continues to blaze at more than 265,600 hectares, the service says.

The service says the fire is now the second-largest wildfire in the province’s recorded history.

The risk from the fire has prompted evacuation orders for parts of the Peace River region.

Another fire in the area that was discovered on Monday is burning near Chasm Creek.

In this case, the fire, known only as G90935, is raging at an estimated size of 64 hectares.

Its suspected cause is lightning, the service says.

“A severe lightning event took place in the Fort St. John zone of the Prince George Fire Centre over the weekend, and it is expected that over the coming days additional holdover fires will be detected in the area,” the service says in a tweet.

A forecaster for the service previously told CityNews the unseasonably warm, dry spring combined with continued, underlying drought means we all need to be careful in the weeks and months ahead.

“We’re really trying to encourage people to be extremely cautious heading into the fire season because the table is really set for what’s likely to be an active fire season,” said Matt MacDonald, who explains there are different types of drought and they don’t always occur at the same time.

As of April, more than 380 fires have been reported in the province with at least 78 actively burning as of Tuesday afternoon.

-With files from James Paracy and Mike Mike Lloyd and The Canadian Press

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