By Cheryl Jahn

PG Fire Centre not in the clear

Sep 6, 2023 | 3:05 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The smoky conditions moved in in time for the long weekend and have persisted. While it’s pretty hard to narrow down where it’s coming from, the B.C. Wildfire service has its suspicions.

“With the smoke, unfortunately, it is kind of hard to determine which fire is the direct source of the smoke. We do have some big fires in the Vanderhoof, like Fort St. James, as well as the Mackenzie. That could be contributing to the smoke that we have been seeing in the Prince George,” explains Pedro Roldan-Delgado with the BC Wildfire Service.

The Minister for Emergency Management, Bowinn Ma, provided an update, saying there are 3,800 people in evacuation orders and 34,000 people under evacuation alert. However, she says things are trending positively. But she notes there are significant challenges once again in the Prince George Fire Center.

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“However, in the north, the situation remains dynamic. Strong winds over the weekend led to substantial wildfire growth in the northwest and the Prince George Wildfire Center’s wildfires in the Vanderhoof and Fort St. James region also displayed aggressive fire activity due to these hot, dry, and windy conditions. While the winds have since calmed, we must all remain vigilant.”

The fire season started very early in the north with the Donnie Creek fire near Fort St. John in June, and it’s been an especially long season.

“Yeah, it is has been a prolonged fire activity like within the season. It has been brought up by our drought conditions and the higher than average seasonal temperatures that we’ve had across the fire center. And not to mention with the wind events that we saw over the long weekend that helped contribute to the smoke and fire activity that we saw. But the move into fall could work to curb the risks. It does seem like we’re getting in that downtrend again where it’s like that. The normal seasonal temperatures where we get the lows of 3 to 7 in some areas, hopefully below zero, which would help quiet down the fire activity. Meanwhile, the smoke will continue for a while yet,” says Roldan-Delgado.