![Northern B.C. wildfire on the edge of Tumbler Ridge townsite has more than doubled in size](https://i.cbc.ca/1.6871684.1686339559!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/tumbler-ridge-fire.jpg)
Northern B.C. wildfire on the edge of Tumbler Ridge townsite has more than doubled in size
CBC
The West Kiskatinaw River wildfire burning in northern B.C. — now an estimated 230 square kilometres in size, up from 96 square kilometres on Thursday — is pushing closer to the evacuated town of Tumbler Ridge.
Forrest Tower, an information officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS), said Friday morning the blaze is four to five kilometres away from Highway 52, which runs through Tumbler Ridge.
Meanwhile, the District of Tumbler Ridge is reporting the fire as being "about three kilometres away" from the townsite.
"We continue to see pretty extreme fire behaviour pretty much every day since this fire has started," Tower told CBC. "We're expecting it to remain very aggressive starting pretty early this morning, expecting torching, candling."
Tower said the fire "is not receptive to any sort of suppression activities that we would normally be able to do" and said wind is pushing the fire "in a westerly direction, which is still toward the community of Tumbler Ridge."
Tower said a wind shift