Alerts lifted as favourable weather helps B.C. wildfire fight

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 17, 2025 11:23 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Rain successful bluish British Columbia and cooler upwind successful the southbound person brought immoderate alleviation for residents surviving adjacent wildfires.

The remaining evacuation alerts related to the Pocket Knife Creek wildfire, northwest of Fort. St. John, were rescinded Monday, though the Peace River Regional District said caller orders oregon alerts whitethorn beryllium issued if the concern changes.

The B.C. Wildfire Service said crews were inactive connected the country successful Squamish to extinguish blistery spots from the Dryden Creek fire, astir 60 kilometres northbound of Vancouver, which was declared to beryllium nether power connected Saturday.

The advancement successful the firefight means evacuation alerts for astir homes closest to the blaze person been lifted, portion Mayor Armand Hurford said evacuation orders person been issued for 2 properties owed to imaginable slope instability. 

"Wildfire crews person been sharing stories of large trees that are usually rather resilient to wildfire, but due to the fact that of the rocky terrain they're lone hanging connected by their roots and the roots are being burnt out," Hurford said Monday.

"Trees that would usually past are falling, and the trees themselves and the debris that they've disturbed rotation downhill towards the affected properties." 

Hurford said the B.C. Wildfire Service is present the pb connected the blaze, taking implicit from Squamish Fire Rescue.

Squamish Fire Rescue Chief Aaron Foote said the metropolis has an "extremely engaged occurrence department" adjacent without a wildfire. 

"The calls don't halt extracurricular of the wildfire, truthful our crews are engaged moving astir each time and night," helium said. 

Foote said much favourable conditions are forecast for this week, with little temperatures and rainfall expected connected Wednesday. 

He said determination are astir 57 wildfire fighters connected the blaze, with 4 histrion fallers and 3 helicopters that proceed to bucket areas that are not accessible by those connected the ground. 

B.C. Parks said Alice Lake Provincial Park volition reopen connected Tuesday aft the wildfire forced the closure due to the fact that the entree roadworthy into the parkland was threatened.

Kiskatinaw River occurrence remains retired of control

In northeastern B.C., the wildfire work said flames are nary longer disposable from the Kiskatinaw River occurrence aft it was doused with much than 20 millimetres of rainfall implicit the weekend.

But B.C. Wildfire Service occurrence behaviour expert Neal McLoughlin said successful a video posted Sunday that it "doesn't mean the occurrence isn't progressive underground," truthful crews stay connected scene.

The blaze — located southeast of Dawson Creek — is inactive rated arsenic retired of control, and is 1 of 3 wildfires of enactment successful B.C. Wildfires of enactment are defined arsenic fires that are highly disposable oregon that airs a imaginable menace to nationalist safety.

"When we person this magnitude of rainfall connected a fire, it's going to instrumentality respective days of hot, adust conditions earlier our substance moisture conditions retrieve and let the occurrence to go progressive connected the aboveground again," McLoughlin said successful the video. 

"So, this alteration successful upwind has truly fixed america the precocious manus for the adjacent week to get up of occurrence suppression activities."

He said the northeast has experienced several years of drought, and portion the rainfall improves firefighting conditions, the scenery is inactive receptive to fire.

"Twenty millimetres of rainfall is wonderful, but we cognize there's blistery spots inactive wrong the occurrence perimeter, and we besides cognize that there's heavy underlying drought, and truthful wrong a week of drying conditions, we could spot progressive occurrence connected the aboveground again, and for that reason, we request to support progressive occurrence suppression implicit the weeks to travel and wrapper this fire."