Fire update for this morning. The big news so far is that fire G70422 has been upgraded to a fire of note. It’s the only Wildfire of Note currently burning in the province so…yay us, I guess?
The fire is 44 km east of Tumbler Ridge, and prevailing winds have been pushing it north and east, forcing an evacuation order for an area that starts about 4 km south of one island lake, and stretches east to the BC/Alberta boundary, including Kelly Lake, then south for about 14 km.
Alberta has also put an evacuation alert in place for the area north of Township Road 720 to Township Road 732, and east of the British Columbia/Alberta border to Range Road 130. The County of Grande Prairie Regional Fire Service has two structure protection teams activated to install sprinklers on homes in the evacuation alert area if it becomes necessary.
Back in BC, north of the evacuation area, a evacuation alert remains in place. This includes One Island Lake. Winds today are expected to get up to 40 kph, which is expected to drive the fire towards Kelly Lake. It is currently 7 km away. Structure protection personelle are in the communty getting ready in case the fire makes a break for town.
There are 60 ground crew working on the fire, with the assistance of heavy equipment on the ground as well as helicopters in the air.
Highway 52 E is still closed, and the fire has blown across the Noel. People looking to get to Grande Prairie are advised to take a different route.
The fire is currently blowing away from town and, while you should always be prepared (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/public-safety-and-emergency-services/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery/embc/preparedbc/preparedbc-guides/wildfire_preparedness_guide.pdf), the fire is not expected to impact people in Tumbler Ridge, other than not being able to take the Noel to GP.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
