Structures lost to B.C. wildfires

Wildfires have ravaged 27 structures in Telegraph Creek, representing 30 to 45 per cent of buildings in the small northwestern British Columbia community, officials say.

Tahltan Band Chief Rick McLean said in a video posted to Facebook on Tuesday that the town has sustained significant damage, but fortunately no lives have been lost.

“That’s the town. We are the community. We are resilient, we’re going to lean on each other, and we’re going to try to continue to fight the fight as best we can,” he said.

They don’t know yet which structures were destroyed, McLean said in the video recorded at a community hall on Tuesday morning and posted to a Facebook group created to distribute information about the wildfires.

Rick Boehm, emergency program co-ordinator at the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine, said two large fires in the Telegraph Creek area likely merged on Tuesday afternoon to create a 150-square kilometre blaze.

He and McLean both said 27 structures had been lost to the flames.

BC Wildfire Service spokeswoman Heather Rice said the two fires in the area were running parallel and she had not received any information that they’d merged as of Tuesday evening.

Some of the impacted structures were merely damaged, rather than destroyed, she added.

The entire community of Telegraph Creek remains under an evacuation order. Residents living closer to Dease Lake were told on Tuesday to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice, said Boehm.

Boehm, who is also chief of the Thornhill Fire Department, said heavy smoke has limited air craft in and out of the fire area. Workers are on the ground protecting what they can while equipment operators are clearing the road to allow firefighting equipment to re-enter, he said.