Fires continue to smoulder in northeastern BC

While it may feel like winter has arrived across the Lower Mainland, fire season continues to smoulder in northeastern B.C.

The BC Wildfire Service says some of the summer’s largest fires are still “out of control” around the Prince George Fire Centre, and they could continue to burn into next year.

The Donnie Creek wildfire grew to be the largest wildfire in the province’s history this summer. At the end of October, BCWS reported its estimated size to be 619, 072 hectares. Now, Val Lucas with the BCWS says the fire remains classified as “out of control” since the service still hasn’t been able to establish a controlled perimeter around it.

“It would not be unusual to see a number of our fires remain on the map through into next year,” Lucas said.

Holdover fires, or fires that continue to burn throughout the winter, are a result of several factors, Lucas says. For example, she says fire can travel into root systems and heat can smoulder deep within the earth’s layers, especially when the ground is dry.

Due to the ongoing drought in northeastern B.C., Lucas says the below-average snowfall the region has been receiving won’t be enough to saturate the ground and extinguish smouldering materials.

“For the fires to fully extinguish naturally, we would have needed to have received substantial rainfall prior to the ground freezing to really impact the drought levels,” Lucas said.

While recent rainfall has brought down drought levels in places like Vancouver Island and the coastal mainland, much of the area around the Prince George Fire Centre remain high.

-With files from Cole Schisler