Wildfire has ignited south of the community and is spreading quickly due to strong winds, officials say
The Fraser Valley Regional District has ordered any residents remaining in Boston Bar, B.C. , to evacuate immediately, saying a new wildfire had ignited south of the community and was spreading quickly due to strong winds.
The district said late Tuesday that the fire was forcing the closure of Highway 1 south of the community so residents had to flee north instead.
“This wildfire is a threat to life and safety,” the district warned, adding that anyone who had remained in the community, about 200 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, was in danger “and must leave now. ” Residents of the township of fewer than 200 residents had already been ordered to leave earlier this month, with fires burning to the west and northeast, but some including business owners had stayed behind.
The new out-of-control fire was discovered on Tuesday and quickly spread to more than three square kilometres. Its cause is undetermined. The fire sprang up amid high temperatures that have resulted in heat warnings covering much of B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar told a briefing earlier Tuesday that the high temperatures, strong winds and thunderstorms would likely mean another jump in fire starts.
“This past week has been a reminder of how fast our wildfire situation can change,” said Parmar, referring to a spike in fire numbers that were in the low 20s less than a week ago. Much of the recent attention has been focused on fires in southeast B.C. that triggered an evacuation alert for the city of Kimberley, with more than 8,000 residents told to get ready to leave at short notice.
Hugh Murdoch, an incident commander for the fires outside of Kimberley told the briefing there had been minimal growth of the blazes but they were aware of the hot forecast this week and were bringing additional resources to protect the city. Parmar said he had been in touch with Kimberley Mayor Don McCormick, and the community was worried about the wildfires that might pose risks to their watershed, which is one of the community’s most valuable assets.
He said the government, BC Timber Sales and forestry partners, had been looking at “very selective logging, partial harvesting, commercial thinning, small light touch forestry” that could help protect both the watershed and the community. There are four so-called wildfires of note in B.C. , among them the Matthew Creek and Tower Creek wildfires that are part of the so-called Bootleg Complex of fires threatening Kimberley.
The Brunswick Creek and Ainslie Creek fires that were already burning near Boston Bar also have fire-of-note designation. Parmar had told Tuesday’s briefing that he was not interested in the idea of a federal takeover of wildfire response, amid criticism of Canada’s approach from U.S. President Donald Trump and Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s recent calls for a national strategy.
Parmar said that while B.C. was looking for federal investments on prevention, risk mitigation and forest management, the province is best positioned to manage its wildfires.
“We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars, and we feel very strongly, and I feel very strongly, that we have a world-class organization in the BC Wildfire Service, and we have shown that we cannot only support our own province but also support other jurisdictions as well,” said Parmar. U.S. President Trump last week threatened to impose more tariffs on Canada due to smoke from fires drifting south over the border.
The update by Parmar and other officials described how British Columbia wildfire crews had stamped out dozens of recent fires or contained them to just a few hectares. Emergency Management Minister Kelly Greene told the briefing there were about 600 properties on evacuation order, most through the Fraser Canyon near Boston Bar, while about 5,700 were on evacuation alert, including the entire city of Kimberley.
Greene said that as of Tuesday morning, Emergency Support Services staff were helping approximately 430 evacuees, with accommodation, clothing and other essentials.
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