Multiple fires meet to form biggest blaze in B.C. history

Wildfire measures more than 130 km from one end to other

KAMLOOPS, B.C.— More than 400 firefighters are working to contain the largest wildfire in British Columbia’s history.

Kevin Skrepnek of the BC Wildfire Service said19 fires merged in an area west of Quesnel in the Interior, creating a single fire estimated to be 4,674 square kilometres in size.

Co-ordinating a response has been a challenge because the fire measures more than130 kilometres from one end to the other, he said, adding 25 helicopters and 73 pieces of heavy equipment are being used.

“There’s good progress being made out there, but just given the sheer scale of this fire, it is going to be active for some time to come,” Skrepnek said.

It’s been decades since British Columbia has seen a fire anywhere near this big, Skrepnek said. The previous record was 2,250 square kilometres, set in 1958 by a fire burning in the northeastern part of the province.

Residents of several small communities have been forced from their homes by the giant fire, but Skrepnek said it’s still about 60 kilometres away from the nearest cities of Williams Lake and Quesnel. Emergency Management BC said Monday that 3,800 people throughout B.C. remain displaced by wildfires and 9,700 others are on evacuation alert.

Several evacuation orders northwest of Kamloops were downgraded to alerts over the weekend, allowing residents around Loon and Green lakes to return home. Members of the Skeetchestn Indian Band west of Kamloops were also cleared to return as of noon on Monday.

Officials at Cariboo-Chilcotin School District 27 said some schools will remain closed in September if they are located in areas where evacuation orders or alerts are in effect.

School buses will also not operate in areas that are under evacuation orders or alerts, the district said in a news release.

More than 1,060 fires have been sparked throughout B.C. since April1, and about 10,000 square kilometres have been scorched by the flames.

There were 135 fires burning on Monday, including seven that started within a 24-hour period.