A wildfire burning in Bluff Creek, near Chetwynd, is now considered out of control by the provincial wildfire service as crews continue to try to fight the flames.
The fire was discovered in the area 168 kilometres outside of Fort St John earlier in the week on Sept. 3, the B.C. Wildfire Service said they suspect it was caused by lightning.
It is described by the service as 19 hectares, or about 23 standard CFL football fields, in size. The B.C. Wildfire Service said the blaze is currently “out of control”- this designation means firefighters expect it to continue burning beyond its current size and any already-established control lines.
An out of control fire is the most severe stage a wildfire can be according to the service’s designations. They said they will apply “more aggressive suppression and control methods such as establishing control lines, burn offs, dropping water, foam or retardant” when tackling it.
Current measures being used to fight the fire include helicopters and heavy equipment, in addition to three initial attack crews, each crew consists of three to four firefighters. British Columbia has 400 initial attack firefighters across the province and many of them are on standby, meaning they are ready to go if, and when, a new fire starts.
These measures aim to limit the spread of the Bluff Creek blaze. When the flames were initially noticed by the firefighting service on Wednesday afternoon, they were burning on less-than-half of a hectare of land.
