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BC Wildfire teams responded to over a dozen weekend wildfires in the northwest

Northwest Fire Centre handling 4 out of control fires and several new ones in the region
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BC Wildfire Service crews continue to respond to several wildfires in the province. (BC Wildfire Service/Twitter)

Over the Aug. 19-21 weekend initial attack crews from BC Wildfire Service’s (BCWS) Northwest Fire Centre (NWFC), based out of Smithers, responded to over 12 new wildfires with high success rate, said the wildfire service agency.

“Seven have been calledout, one expanded attack incident is being held andfour within Tweedsmuir Provincial Park are in modified response with a status of out of control,” BCWS said in an Aug. 21 statement. Modified responses are used when there is no immediate threat to residents and infrastructure and involves a combination of techniques.

These four out of control wildfires in the Tweedsmuir Provincial Park are at Wutak Lake, Tesla Lake (and south of Tesla Lake), south of Chikamin Bay (3), southwest of Tahtsa Reach (0.001).

There is also a significantly smaller out of control wildfire listed south of Ningunsaw River (0.01 hectare) in the Skeena region

Crews are also responding to new, smaller wildfires as of Aug. 22, at Kasiks River ( 0.01 hectare) near Prince Rupert, Morice River( 3 hectares) near Smithers, McCully Creek (0.01 hectare) located approximately 10 miles fro Kispiox and a fire 100 metres off Walcott Rd (0.29 hectare) in the Telkwa area.

As of Aug. 21, NWFC responded to 94 fires (since April, 2022) which burned a total area of 12,941 hectares.

For the upcoming week, NWFC forecasters are calling for continued high temperatures, dry conditions, and potential for lightning through the south of the fire centre. The BC Wildfire Service expects additional fires to be reported and continues to have crews and other resources on standby to respond to any emerging incidents.

Be cautious in outdoor activities. Human-caused wildfires are avoidable, and they pull resources away from other incidents. The wildfire service also thank members of the public for the many phone reports received for the Coldwater Creek wildfire, and we ask for your continued support in reporting wildfires.

READ ALSO: 11,000 lightning strikes spark nearly 100 new fires: BC Wildfire Service



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