The BC Wildfire Service is reporting 13 new wildfires were discovered in the Cariboo Fire Centre Sunday, Aug. 5.
Three were discovered in the Horsefly area, all of which are 0.01 hectares.
Six new fires were discovered in the 100 Mile Fire Zone, the largest being the Whale Lake fire estimated at one hectare in size. One 4.1 hectare fire was identified in the Chilcotin zone (later determined to be in Coastal Fire Centre jurisdiction), one spot fire in the Williams Lake area and the remaining two fires were located in the Quesnel Fire Zone.
There are a total of 78 active wildfires in the Cariboo Fire Centre, 33 fires are in Out of Control status, 19 are in Being Held status, and 26 wildfires are in Under Control Status. A total of 14 wildfires were called out yesterday.
Horsefly
The BC Wildfire Service released an Information Bulletin last night to advise the public to use caution around Horsefly and Quesnel Lakes due to skimming operations that are planned for today to help cool hotspots on three fires in the area. There are 20 active fires in the Horsefly area. Three new spot fires were discovered yesterday, initial attack crews are being allocated as appropriate to these fires. All fires have been assessed and actioned in priority sequence.
Four fires are on the east arm of Quesnel Lake, with the largest being 0.6 hectares (C31697).
Two fires are on the north side of Quesnel Lake. One spot fire is in Out of Control status and the other is Under Control and is approximately 20.6. The other fires in this area have been called out. .
Four fires are located on the south side of Quesnel Lake and the largest is the Quartz Mountain fire estimated at 92 hectares. Due to warmer weather this fire is active on both sides but does not pose a risk to communities or structures.
The largest fire is the Horsefly Lake fire, mapped at 526 hectares, which is now 100 percent contained. There are 26 firefighters, 10 pieces of heavy equipment, 2 helicopters and 1 fire officer on site. Crews continue to work on the southwest side to extinguish areas with high slash and fuel accumulation.
100 Mile
There are currently 23 active wildfires in the 100 Mile fire zone. There are no structures or communities threatened at this time, but multiple wildfires are highly visible from communities and highways.
Crews made good progress yesterday, calling out seven fires. All of the wildfires have been assessed and are being actioned in priority sequence. Ground crews, aircraft and heavy equipment are responding.
Yesterday, BC Wildfire Service discovered six new fires. The largest of these is the Whale Lake fire (C42202) was discovered yesterday afternoon and is located northeast of Moose Valley Park in the 100 Mile fire zone. There are no structures or communities threatened at this time, however, the fire may be visible from the community of 100 Mile House. The fire is Being Held and is estimated to be 1 hectare in size. Airtankers have competed action and will be requested back if necessary. There are six firefighters on site.
There are five fires located near Lang Lake, the largest of these wildfires is estimated to be 4.1 hectares and is in Being Held status. The remaining four fires are all 0.01 hectares in size.
There is one fire located near Sodium Lake that is an estimated 24 hectares in size. It is now considered to be in ‘Under Control’ status and crews have made good progress.
There are two wildfires north of the Marble Range Park. The largest being the Wild Goose Lake fire, estimated at 20 hectares in size and considered to be in Being Held status. The other fire in this area is in Under Control status and is an estimated 0.8 hectares in size.
There is one active wildfire, C41773, located north of Flat Lake Park and south of Gustafsen Lake FSR. It is approximately 0.3 hectares in size and is in Being Held status. The remaining fires in this area have been called out.
Quesnel
The BC Wildfire service has identified 19 active wildfires in the Quesnel fire zone; two of these were discovered yesterday. There are no structures or communities threatened at this time.
All of the wildfires have been assessed and being actioned in priority sequence. Ground crews, aircraft and heavy equipment are responding.
There are three fires located north of Bellos Lake and west of Norton Creek road, the largest of these is 0.3 hectares and had air support yesterday and has crews on site.
There are three active fires in the area north of Highway 26, east of the community of Quesnel and west of Bowron Lake Park. The largest is C11853 and is estimated at 20 hectares in size.
Keithley Creek Mountain area has two wildfires. The largest is the Cottonwood fire, estimated at 60 hectares.
Four wildfires are north of the Itcha Ilgachuz Park. The Shag Creek wildfire is the largest fire in this area at an estimated 10.3 hectares. Ten firefighters are currently onsite.
Lastly, there are five fires south of Kluskoil Lake Park and northwest of Nazko, the largest is 4 hectares and is Under Control.
Williams Lake
The Williams Lake area in the Central fire zone has nine active wildfires. There are no structures or communities threatened at this time.
All of the wildfires have been assessed and being actioned in priority sequence. Ground crews, aircraft and heavy equipment are responding.
Three fires are located near the Junction Sheep Range Park; the largest is estimated at 199 hectares. This fire is located inside the park boundaries and is Under Control.
Chilcotin
The BC Wildfire Service has identified eight active wildfires in the Chilcotin fire zone. One new fire was discovered yesterday (C52231) near Colwell Creek and is estimated to be 4.1 hectares in size. After more accurate identification of the location, this fire was determined to be within the Coastal Fire Center jurisdiction. Some wildfires may be visible from Highway 20 and communities. There are no structures or communities threatened at this time.
All of the wildfires have been assessed and are being actioned in priority sequence. Airtankers, ground crews, aircraft and heavy equipment are responding.
There are two active fires in the Itcha Ilgachuz Park with the largest being 55 hectares in size. Crews are making excellent progress and are actively patrolling this fire.
The fire south of Bull Canyon and is estimated at 4.3 hectares in size. This fire is in Under Control status and is being patrolled.
The Chantslar Lake fire, located to the north of Tatla Lake, is currently estimated at 120 hectares in size. This wildfire is now 100 per cent guarded and crews have made positive progress on this fire.
Weather Outlook
We are anticipating hot dry weather throughout the Cariboo Fire Centre for the next five days. Temperatures will be in the upper 20s and low 30s with relative humidity trending downward. Winds today will be between 15 to 25 kilometres per hour with gusts up to 35 kilometres per hour in the Chilcotin.
We are expecting generally light winds between 10 to 15 kilometres per hour for the remainder of this week. A cooler weather pattern with thunderstorms and precipitation is anticipated to move into the Cariboo Fire Centre late in the day on Friday and moving through the weekend.