Prince George, B.C. – Fire crews aren’t expecting any mercy in the Peace today.

Hot and dry conditions have already forced an evacuation order and alert for the Beatton Airport Road Fire and an alert for the Siphon Creek fire and now the forecast is calling for high winds.

“We’re expecting a wind event with winds gusting up to 60 km/hr today. So we are expecting to see more fire behaviour,” says fire information officer Haley Williams. “And that’s why the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) put in the alerts and orders. Just to make sure residents are aware that we’re expecting more challenging weather.”

Shannon Anderson, deputy chief administrative officer for the PRRD, says the evacuation order has affected 130 civic addresses, or roughly 200-300 people.

He encourages area residents to check their website (prrd.bc.ca) for further updates though he says it’s too soon to say whether there will be more evacuations.

“People in the field are keeping a very close eye on that and they will let us know accordingly but they did tell us in the next day or so it’s going to be very busy.”

Anderson says the District does not know if any structures have been lost in the latest flare up but notes they’ve heard from local residents there were a couple buildings lost earlier in the fire season.

The PRRD has set up an EOC at the North Peace Arena in Fort St. John to support evacuees.

Non-residents who have been evacuated are not eligible for assistance. To register call 250-794-3310.