Evacuation orders and alerts issued as lightning sparks fires across B.C. Interior

B.C.'s wildfire fight is intensifying, with hundreds of people evacuated from their homes Friday night in the Cariboo region.

People at hundreds of properties in B.C.’s Interior have been ordered to evacuate as out-of-control wildfires rage nearby.

The Fiftynine Creek fire, burning northwest of Clinton, B.C., is one of dozens believed to have been caused by a major lightning storm that swept through parts of the province on Thursday night. It was discovered on Friday morning and began spreading when temperatures rose in the afternoon. The blaze was measured at 4,000 hectares in size by the B.C. Wildfire Service as of 9:45 p.m. Friday.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District issued an evacuation alert in the afternoon and later expanded it into an order covering 131 addressed properties in Electoral Area E, also known as the Bonaparte Plateau.

Northeast of the Fiftynine Creek blaze, the Cariboo Regional District issued an evacuation alert for dozens of properties near the Bowers Lake wildfire. The alert was upgraded to an order at 8 p.m. Friday.

The Bowers Lake blaze is burning between Clearwater and 100 Mile House and was discovered Friday. The lightning-caused fire was measured at 120 hectares as of Saturday morning.

Elsewhere, the Tin Cup Creek wildfire has prompted evacuation alerts from the TNRD, but no orders as of 10 a.m. Saturday. The same is true of the Lessard Lake wildfire in the Cariboo Regional District.

Properties in the Big Bar Lake area feature a mixture of permanent and seasonal residents, including a popular campground with 46 campsites at Big Bar Lake Park.

“If you are in the described area, you must leave immediately. A person must not enter the evacuation order area for purposes of residing, occupying, or visiting the area,” the TNRD said, in a statement.

“If safe to do so, people in the Evacuation Order area should proceed east on Big Bar Road to Highway 97. If the fire has reached Big Bar Lake Road and it is unsafe to travel east, evacuees can travel west on Big Bar Road and travel out of the area through either Meadow Lake to the north or Jesmond to the south.”

The regional district has set up an Emergency Support Services centre for evacuees at Clinton Memorial Hall.

Data from the B.C. Wildfire Service showed 112 active fires in the province, 83 of which started within the last 24 hours, as of Saturday at 10 a.m.