A forest fire near the town of Fort Nelson, British Columbia, spread Tuesday, as residents in the northeast of the province receive more and more evacuation orders from authorities.
The fire extended over 84 km on Tuesday morning2according to an update from the provincial forest fire protection service, a significant increase since Monday, when it was about 53 km2.
Meteorologists predicted winds that could bring this fire closer to Fort Nelson. This locality of around 4,700 inhabitants and the neighboring indigenous community have been the subject of an evacuation order since Friday.
Areas under mandatory evacuation in northeastern British Columbia have increased, with the latest order Monday for the Doig River Indigenous community and the Peace River Regional District, which a nearby fire threatens.
Peace River officials asked residents to take what they needed and head south to an evacuation center in Fort St. John.
Northern Rockies Regional Municipality Mayor Rob Fraser said emergency operations center workers called as many people as possible and had to convince some of them to leave. About fifty of the 4,700 residents are still in Fort Nelson, in addition to emergency personnel, Mr. Fraser estimates.
“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.
He also said there was still electricity and water in Fort Nelson, while the power was particularly worrying for evacuees, who were 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.
In the Prairies
This wildfire is one of many raging across the West and the Prairies, from British Columbia to Manitoba.
In northwestern Manitoba, about 550 residents of Cranberry Portage were forced to leave their homes over the weekend as winds pushed the fire near the community.
On Tuesday, some residents were able to return temporarily to the site, accompanied, to observe the damage.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew was also scheduled to visit the region on Tuesday.
Earl Simmons, director of the province’s Forest Fire Service, says the fire spread faster than any he has seen in his career.
In a social media post, the RM of Kelsey says residents who went south to The Pas and want to head 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 triggered an evacuation alert in Fort McMurray appeared to be burning about 16 km 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.