(Fort Nelson) A wildfire near the town of Fort Nelson, British Columbia, spread Tuesday, as residents in the northeast of the province receive more and more evacuation orders authorities.
An update from the provincial forest fire department said the fire was 84 square kilometers as of Tuesday morning, a significant increase since Monday, when it was mapped at about 53 square kilometers.
Meteorologists predicted winds likely to bring this fire closer to Fort Nelson, where the town of around 4,700 residents and the neighboring indigenous community have been under an evacuation order since Friday.
Areas under mandatory evacuation in northeastern British Columbia increased with the latest order Monday for the Doig River Indigenous community and the Peace River Regional District, as a fire threatens nearby.
Peace River authorities asked residents to grab what they needed and head south to an evacuation center in Fort St. John.
PHOTO JESSE BOILY, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Evacuees from Fort Nelson gather at the North Peace Arena in Fort St. John.
Northern Rockies Regional Municipality Mayor Rob Fraser said employees at the emergency operations center called as many people as possible and had to convince some of them to leave. Mr. Fraser believes that around fifty of the 4,700 residents are still in Fort Nelson, in addition to emergency personnel.
“We are truly at the mercy of the weather and so far it is on our side,” Mayor Fraser said in a video posted on Facebook. He explains that Sunday’s winds prevented the flames from getting closer to the city.
The mayor also clarified that there was still electricity and water in Fort Nelson, while the power was particularly worrying for evacuees, concerned about their homes.
One downside of the broad evacuation, Fraser said, is that it has been difficult for essential personnel, including firefighters, to find food.
Manitoba and Alberta
This fire is one of many raging across the West and the Prairies, from British Columbia to Manitoba.
In northwestern Manitoba, approximately 550 residents of Cranberry Portage were forced to leave their homes over the weekend as winds pushed the fire near the community.
Some residents were able to return temporarily on Tuesday, accompanied, to observe the damage. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew was also scheduled to visit the region on Tuesday.
Earl Simmons, the province’s wildfire director, says the fire spread faster than any fire he’s seen in his career.
In a social media post, the RM of Kelsey says residents who went south to The Pas and want to move north to Flin Flon could do so Tuesday afternoon. This municipality says it does not know how long the state of emergency will last.
In Alberta, a fire that prompted an evacuation alert in Fort McMurray appeared to be burning about 10 miles southeast of the city, a hub of oil sands development. In 2016, Fort McMurray was devastated by a massive forest and bush fire, which damaged or razed 2,400 homes.