Eleven new wildfires were discovered in the Cariboo Fire Centre Friday.
Three of those were in the 100 Mile Fire Zone, all of which were 0.01 hectares in size. Four were in the Horsefly region, with the largest being the fire west of Niagara Creek and is estimated at 1 hectare. One new spot fire was discovered in the Williams Lake zone near Wiggins Creek and is estimated at 0.01 hectares in size. The remaining fires were discovered in the Quesnel Fire Zone, with the largest being 1.10 hectares in size in Itcha Ilgachuz park.
Seven fires have been called out in the last two days.
There are a total of 116 wildfires that have been identified since Monday, July 30. Below is a breakdown of the wildfires in each of the fire zones:
Horsefly
The BC Wildfire Service has responded to 27 fires in the Horsefly region since Monday, July 30, 2018. There were four new fires that were discovered today, with the largest being 0.3 hectares in size located near Niagara River and is in Being Held status. All fires have been assessed and actioned in priority sequence. The main priority is getting control lines and containment on the Horsefly Lake wildfire.
READ MORE: VIDEO: A look behind the scenes at the Horsefly Lake fire complex
Four fires are on the east arm of Quesnel Lake, with the largest being 0.6 hectares in size (C31697).
Three fires are on the north side of Quesnel Lake. One is Being Held, one is Under Control and one is Out of Control and is approximately 0.01 hectares in size.
Four fires are located on the south side of Quesnel Lake and the largest is the Quartz Mountain fire estimated at 92 hectares. These fires are being assessed to determine the appropriate response.
The largest fire is the Horsefly Lake fire, mapped at 526 hectares, which is now 100 percent contained. There are 40 firefighters, 10 pieces of heavy equipment, 2 helicopters and 1 fire officer on site. Due to increased containment and good progress by crews, this fire is no longer under an evacuation alert. For more information on this fire please see http://bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca/hprScripts/WildfireNews/OneFire.asp?ID=715
100 Mile
The BC Wildfire Service has responded to 40 wildfires in the 100 Mile fire zone since Monday, 13 of these have now been called out. There are no structures or communities threatened at this time, but multiple wildfires are highly visible from communities and highways.
All of the wildfires have been assessed and being actioned in priority sequence. Ground crews, aircraft and heavy equipment are responding.
Crews have made great progress on the fires near Sodium Lake and both are considered to be in ‘Being Held’ status. These fires have received significant rain over the last two days.
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 is in Being Held status. Crews are working in the area.
There are seven active wildfires located north of Flat Lake Park and south of Gustafsen Lake FSR. The largest is C41930 that is estimated at 0.6 hectares in size and the status is Under Control. Ground crews have been making good progress on the fires in the area.
Quesnel
The BC Wildfire Service has responded to 17 wildfires in the Quesnel fire zone. There are no structures or communities threatened at this time.
There are three general areas with a cluster of wildfires. All of the wildfires have been assessed and being actioned in priority sequence. Ground crews, aircraft and heavy equipment are responding.
The first is north of Highway 26, east of the community of Quesnel and west of Bowron Lake Park, with five fires in the area. 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 and is estimated at 60 hectares. There are ground crews and equipment onsite.
Lastly, there are four wildfires north of the Itcha Ilgachuz Park, three of these fires have now been called out.
Williams Lake
The BC Wildfire has responded to 15 wildfires in the area of Williams Lake in the Central fire zone. 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.
The first is south of the community of Williams Lake approximately eight kilometres. All of these wildfires are considered to be Under Control. The largest is 0.3 hectares in size.
Four are near the Junction of Sheep Range Park, the largest is 199 hectares, which is inside the park boundaries.
Chilcotin
The BC Wildfire Service has identified 15 wildfires in the Chilcotin fire zone since Monday, July 30, 2018, with no new fires discovered yesterday. 8 of those fires have been called out since then. Five wildfires are highly visible from Highway 20 and communities. There are no structures or communities threatened at this time.
There are two general areas with a cluster of wildfires. All of the wildfires have been assessed and are being actioned in priority sequence. Airtankers, ground crews, aircraft and heavy equipment are responding.
1) There are three fires in the Itcha Ilgachuz Park, with the largest being 15 hectares.
2) Three active fires are in the area of Chezacut and Redstone. The largest is the fire south of Bull Canyon and is estimated at 3.4 hectares in size. 6 fires have been called out in this area.
Outside of the general clusters is the Chantslar Lake fire, located to the north of Tatla Lake which is currently estimated at 120 hectares in size. This wildfire is now 80% guarded. Skimmers made good progress yesterday and ground crews will continue to work from the heal of the fire.
Weather Outlook
We are anticipating warmer and drier weather over the weekend and moving into next week, with temperatures moving into the upper 20s and low 30s. Fortunately, we are expecting light winds. We are expecting some winds on Monday between approximately 10 to 20 kilometres per hour.