Image Credit: BC Wildfire Service

By Victor Kaisar

Wildfire Safety

People urged to avoid areas with active blazes; give air tankers space as wildfire activity increases

May 4, 2025 | 9:30 AM

PRINCE GEORGE — As wildfire activity increases across the Prince George Fire Centre, the BC Wildfire Service is asking people to avoid areas where there are active wildfires burning so crews have the space they need to work safely.

They’re also asking people to avoid areas where airtankers are working, noting the planes cannot drop fire retardant if people are in or near the drop zone.

“Public presence on the ground can force aircraft to delay or cancel retardant drops, reducing the effectiveness of suppression efforts,” the BC Wildfire Service said.

“If an airtanker is unable to drop retardant safely, fire behaviour may escalate, and the risk to nearby communities and infrastructure increases.”

There has been an increase in the number of active wildfires across B.C., with most of those in the Prince George Fire Centre. As of Sunday (May 4) morning, there were 46 active blazes across the province, with 27 of those in the Prince George Fire Centre.

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Eleven of the 12 fires currently listed as out of control are also located in the Prince George Fire Centre. The B.C. Wildfire Service also urged people to refrain from all open burning this weekend because of an elevated fire risk.

“With the wind that we have and the dry airmass along with the hot temperatures that we had in the past couple of days, its especially important to be very very cautious when recreating,” Information Officer Karley Desrosiers said.

“So things like having a campfire or whether it be an off-road vehicle or driving on the highway. Make sure to not park those vehicles in long grass. The grass is very dry and can spark a wildfire that can grow quite quickly in these conditions.”

Desrosiers also said its important that people report all fire starts into the BC Wildfire Service as quickly as possible.

“We’ve had a busy 24 to 48 hours in the Prince George Fire Centre, mostly attributed to human activity,” she said.

“We just want to thank residents for reporting wildfires as they do appear. The quicker we know about them, the faster we can get people dispatched and responding.”