Prince George, B.C. -The Elephant Hill fire has seen some growth,  and could  be a major challenge tomorrow,  as more gusty wind  is  predicted in the area.

The Elephant Hill fire is now  estimated to be 186,800 hectares, but is  50% contained. “Tomorrow we are expecting wind to pick up in some areas of the  province” says BC Wildfire Service Chief Information Officer, Kevin Skrepnek, “Unfortunately this is an area where we think wind is going to present a significant challenge tomorrow.   we are  bracing for a pretty  bad, challenging day out there.”

He says  crews are doing as much as they can today to  mitigate  the impact  wind might have ” Putting some containment lines in place, particularly along the northern edge of this fire,  but we are expecting   wind gusts of up to 40 kilometers per hour  in the area of this fire, and that is  certainly  going to be a challenge.”

He says people who live  in  an area  that is under  evacuation alert,   be  prepared to  be ordered to leave   within 30 minutes  “We are in discussion with the Cariboo Regional District  today as to whether there needs  to be an expansion of  (evacuation) alerts and orders that are already in place in that area  on  the northern edge of that fire towards highway 24”.

Skrepnek  says  even though this is a long weekend,  people  need to  think twice  about heading to the  area “Given that this is a long weekend,  and this is a popular vacation spot,  given  the fact this fire is so active and has so much potential, regardless of evacuation  alerts and orders right now,  we’re  broadly  urging people to avoid that area at this time.

There will increased  patrols by  authorities throughout the Cariboo,  Kamloops and South East fire centres, to ensure people are obeying the campfire ban,  area restrictions and  off road vehicle ban.