Fire behaviour expected to increase with with warmer temperatures this weekend

The Cariboo Fire Centre is expecting fire behaviour to increase on a few of the Cariboo’s fires this weekend.

This is due to warmer temperatures and lower relative humidity. In addition, lightning is expected through the area of some of the fires, with minimal accompanying precipitation.

The Cariboo Fire Centre says crews have been successful in actioning any hotspots that pop up outside of the guard on the Flat Lake Fire. The Flat Lake fire is estimated to be 45,526 hectares in size. Machine guards on the north and west sides of the fire have been completed, and planning is underway for more planned ignitions in the area. Today, crews are working on mop-up activities and securing areas around the eastern flanks, actioning hot spots that pop up and getting aerial support as needed.

There has been no significant change on the fire South of Canim Lake over the past few days. Crews are continuing to work directly on the fire perimeter, and are continuing work on the fuel-free guards and establishing a 10-foot backline to secure the fuel-free working south to Drewry Lake. Crews are also working to open old block roads for additional access to the fire, which is estimated to be 2,673 hectares.

Planned ignitions were successfully completed on the Young Lake fire on Friday. The Cariboo Fire Centre says this ignition secured the containment line by removing the unburned fuel that remained between the containment line and the fire. Firefighters patrolled the area overnight and will continue to patrol for hot spots today. Heavy equipment arrived this morning to start working on a fuel-free guard. Today, crews are working to secure the east flank where the ignition took place. This fire is estimated to be 6,937 hectares.

Crews were working west of Highway 20 on the Big Stick Lake Fire, completing a 50-foot wetline where hand ignitions were completed this week. This fire is estimated to be 7,020 hectares.

Crews are patrolling and actioning hotspots along the east and south flanks of the McKinley Lake fire, and have also been working to extinguish the edge of the northwest flank. This fire is estimated to be 1,834 hectares.

The Purdy Lake fire is estimated to be 8,100 hectares, and is classified as ‘being held’, and the Chasm Wildfire is estimated to be 454 hectares and is classified as ‘under control’. The Chasm Wildfire will no longer be considered a Wildfire of Note as of Sunday, August 1st at 9:00 PM.

As of Saturday, there are 38 active wildfires within the Cariboo Fire Centre, including seven wildfires of note.

There are seven in the Central Cariboo Zone, three in the Chilcotin Zone, seven in the Quesnel Zone, and 21 in the 100 Mile Fire zone.