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By Amy Judd & Kylie Stanton / Global BC

Wildfires

‘Zombie fires’ burning in northeastern B.C., some sparked years ago

Jan 10, 2026 | 1:00 PM

Northeastern B.C. still has some overwintering fires burning, some of which were sparked years ago.

An overwintering fire, which is also known as a zombie fire, burns deep into the ground in the different soil levels and sparks back up in the next fire season.

“We have not stopped burning for almost three years now,” Sonja Leverkus, a prescribed fire specialist, told Global News.

“When you already have heat from a fire that’s been burning over the winter and you have fuel that is dry, all it takes is these big wind events to cause a fire to move again.”

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While these zombie fires are not a new phenomenon, experts say it is unusual for them to burn over multiple years.

“What we haven’t seen is fires burn through multiple winters,” Mike Flannigan, a wildland fire professor at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, said. “We are in uncharted territory.”

The ongoing drought in northeastern B.C. has created prime conditions for zombie fires to continue. There are currently 20 wildfires burning in the province , and they’re all classified as under control. They’re all located in the Prince George Fire Centre.

The B.C. Wildfire Service says it is using a combination of satellite and aircraft-based remote sensing techniques to map the location of potential overwintering fires, even though the technology can struggle, given the conditions.

“The average moisture content in the organic layer of soil has had better values than the past two previous falls, so there is an opportunity for these values to recover and reduce the overwintering potential this winter,” Emily Baker, a fire information officer with the BC Wildfire Service, said.

Leverkus said the northeastern part of the province is on high alert as these fires could start burning above the surface in only a few months.