By Canadian Press

B.C. district tells residents under evacuation orders to leave as wildfire grows

Jun 5, 2025 | 8:57 PM

The Peace River Regional District says residents who are subject to evacuation orders in the Kelly Lake area of northeastern B.C. should leave immediately, as an advancing wildfire “cannot be contained.”

The district says in a Facebook post that first responders may be forced to leave the area if conditions worsen at the Kiskatinaw River blaze, and it may not be possible to rescue residents who could become trapped.

It says the fire could be deadly to those in its path.

The latest update from the BC Wildfire Service says the fire spanned roughly 74 square kilometres and had been growing in the direction of Kelly Lake, a community of about 75 residents near the Alberta boundary.

The bulletin says strong winds in the forecast were expected to trigger “extreme fire behaviour” on Friday.

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It says people should not wait to see smoke or fire before making the decision to leave the area and notes Highway 52 East remained closed in both directions.

An update earlier Thursday said firefighters from several fire departments across the province were working alongside wildfire crews to prepare sprinkler systems to defend buildings in Kelly Lake.

“This is a high-risk situation,” it said.

The service said strong winds with gusts up to 70 km/h were expected Friday before easing slightly on Saturday and picking up again on Sunday.

The service said more than 100 personnel and 12 helicopters were assigned to the blaze, which is one of two “wildfires of note” in the province.

The other is the Summit Lake fire, which has burned about 26 square kilometres along the Alaska Highway west of Fort Nelson.

New fire bans were meanwhile being imposed across much of B.C. with a campfire ban imposed on the dry northeast region from noon Thursday.

A ban on larger fires is planned for parts of the province’s northwest from noon Friday, while such bans are already in place in the southeast and coastal areas, including Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.

Just under 70 wildfires were active across B.C. on Thursday, about 60 per cent of which were classified as burning out of control.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.

Brieanna Charlebois and Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press