Evacuation orders, alerts issued due to wildfire south of Prince George, B.C.

Several properties have been evacuated and warned of a wildfire near the Hixon area, south of Prince George, Canada.

The Fraser-Fort George region issued evacuation orders for five rural properties and warnings for five others at 9:45 p.m. local time on Friday.

The orders come as wildfire activity in the province has been exacerbated by a dry spring, particularly in the northeast, where internet and cell phone service were briefly down in some areas on Friday.

The Never Creek fire near Hixon was discovered Friday afternoon and is being fought by aircraft, said Carly Desreve, communications officer for the British Columbia Forest Fire Service.

“We’ve had some rain — not a lot — but that has helped to reduce the intensity of the fire and we’ve made good progress on containing it. Fortunately, it didn’t spread much last night,” she added.

As of 11 a.m. Saturday, fewer than 40 fires were burning in the province. The Never Creek fire was burning about 70 hectares, 54 kilometers south of Prince George.

The fire was producing a lot of smoke near Highway 97, but it was not expected to directly affect the highway, Deserva said. However, strong and sudden gusts of wind are possible Saturday afternoon, and weather conditions are still not fully predictable.

The difference between an evacuation order and an evacuation warning

An evacuation order means residents must leave immediately, while an evacuation warning means they should be prepared to leave as soon as possible.

Deserva said the orders and warnings are mostly for rural properties and are issued out of an abundance of caution, with no immediate threat to homes at this time.

“We’re taking a cautious approach with the wind and the conditions,” he said. “Fortunately, the light rain has kept the fire from spreading and we’re continuing to contain it.”

Other fires in the northeast

The BC Fire Service warned of unusually dry conditions across the province on Friday. Statistics show that most spring fires in the region are caused by human activity, such as starting fires in the wild or parking off-road vehicles in dry grass.

“We strongly advise people to avoid lighting fires outdoors on weekends like this, when the weather is dry and windy,” Desreva stressed.

Temperatures in parts of Prince George’s County reached 27 degrees Celsius on Friday, well above normal for the season.

Meanwhile, firefighters have made good progress in containing other fires in the northeast of the province, including north of Fort St. John, where an evacuation order was issued Thursday and has now been lifted. Internet and cell phone service has also been restored in the Tumbler Ridge area, which was disrupted by the fire.

“Overall, we saw a significant reduction in fire activity in Prince George’s County yesterday evening, and we are closely monitoring conditions, particularly wind conditions, to prevent further increases in the fire,” Desroches said.

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