Evacuation Order Issued for 100 Mile House
100 Mile House, B.C. – An evacuation order has been issued for all residences and properties within the District of 100 Mile House municipal boundaries.
Mayor Mitch Campsall signed off on the order tonight due to “a rapidly moving wildfire that is threatening the residents and businesses” in the area. Roughly 2,000 people live there.
The fire in question, the Gustafsen fire just west of town, has grown to 5,000 hectares in size.
In a Facebook posting, Forests Minister John Rustad said all “people are being routed east then north to Highway 16 and then through to Prince George.”
“Additional resources from other provinces are arriving tonight and three additional bomber units have already been deployed to BC. Some military assets are already transferred to BC with more on their way in the coming days,” he added.
“We continue to draw resources from within the provincial ministries to assist the crews we already have deployed. Every available resource is being drawn upon to help with the efforts. We also have some logistical personnel deployed from Australia.”
Below is a map of the evacuation order area
Comments
Stay safe everyone! I hope things turn around soon.
Does anyone know if or how the dead MPB stands are impacting the fires? I know it was always discussed that it would be a major contributor to future fires, but I haven’t seen much discussion about it and I’d be interested to hear if it’s playing as much of a role as what was predicted years ago.
There was a report a couple of years ago, I think done by the Ministry of Forests, that found that the dead pine did not burn as quickly as green stands. The fire didn’t spread as quickly because sap filled green needles were more volatile than dry wood.
I seriously hope everyone in PG welcomes these folks with open arms.
This is a a tough time for them.
Reading from CBC website the experts agree:
three key factors are needed for fires to spark:
Hot, dry, windy weather.
Fuel, usually in the form of tinder-dry vegetation.
Ignition, most often either dry lightning or from human activity like discarded cigarettes.
In the B.C. Interior, that means mostly shrubs and long grasses that quickly dry into kindling. And then there are all the dead pine trees ravaged by years of pine beetle infestation.
Thanks for the info!
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