Evacuation order issued in Chetwynd, B.C., due to wildfire

Highway 97 between Chetwynd and Prince George, B.C., has been closed and evacuations of some neighbourhoods in the District of Chetwynd are underway as a wildfire in the region grows rapidly on Wednesday.

The B.C. Wildfire Service says ground crews and air tankers are responding to the Wildmare Creek wildfire that grew to 0.5 square kilometres on Wednesday.

Fire information officer Sharon Nickel says the blaze was discovered around 4 p.m. PT, and is burning around 10 kilometres southwest of Chetwynd. The community is around 720 km northeast of Vancouver, and 210 km northeast of Prince George.

"The area is experiencing sustained winds and those are coming from the southwest," she told CBC News Wednesday evening. "That's sort of pushing any kind of fire growth that we're seeing towards the north-northeast ... in the direction of Chetwynd."

The Peace River Regional District issued an evacuation order for the Pine River area, along with an evacuation alert for properties northeast of that area.

The order extends to an area directly west of Bisset Creek, south to the Pine River, and east to Wildmare Creek, including all properties on the north side of the highway, the order says. 

Everyone covered by the evacuation order has to leave immediately due to the risk to life and property. It is not clear how many properties are included in the evacuation order.

DriveBC says Highway 97 is closed from the Stone Creek subdivision to the Kurjata subdivision, which is just four kilometres south of Chetwynd.

Highway 97 is the primary route connecting Chetwynd, and other areas of B.C.'s Peace region, to Prince George and the rest of the province.

The B.C. Wildfire Service says the blaze appears to have been human-caused, a broad category that applies to all wildfires not sparked by lightning.

Chetwynd Mayor Allen Courtoreille said the community of around 2,500 people was standing by and an evacuation office was ready for anyone leaving their homes.

"It's pretty disturbing that we were thinking this way, but facts and reality [is] that we don't have that groundwater to suppress any of the ... sparks that might hit the ground," Courtoreille told CBC News. "We've been worried about this since last year when we were in the drought state."

Nickel said persistent drought conditions have been observed throughout the Peace region.

"Every bit of fuel that is available there is quite dry," she said. "It is a high grass fire hazard and ... grass fires are quite common in the Peace this time of year."