Prince George, B.C. – The Little Bobtail wildfire continues to grow.

Located 2.5 km south of Norman Lake, and 50 km southwest of Prince George, its grown in size to 2,700 hectares from 2,500 hectares Sunday.

The blaze has already sparked evacuation orders forcing 80 people from their homes and fire information officer Jill Kelsh adds the “hot, dry and windy conditions continue to challenge wildfire personnel.”

She says after working through the night, firefighters “are continuing to establish guard around the south side of the fire’s perimeter with the help of heavy equipment.”

Kelsh notes four helicopters are also on site providing bucketing support for ground crews and adds structural protection units have also been deployed.

In addition to that, “over 100 additional staff including sustained action crews, a specialized Incident Management Team, and other support staff are currently on route.”

Smoke from the blaze is visible from Highway 16 and neighbouring communities including Prince George, Quesnel and Williams Lake.

For a full listing on evacuation orders and alerts click here.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.