An evacuation order has been lifted for the community of Tumbler Ridge, B.C., nine days after more than 2,000 residents were forced out by an encroaching wildfire. The West Kiskatinaw River wildfire (G70645) in the District of Tumbler Ridge, B.C., is shown in this handout image provided by the BC Wildfire Service, Thursday, June 8, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, BC Wildfire Service *MANDATORY CREDIT*
Residents forced out by a wildfire last week in the northeastern British Columbia community of Tumbler Ridge were allowed to return home Thursday thanks to recent rain and favourable winds, although thousands of people remain displaced because of blazes across the country.
More than 2,000 people had been ordered to leave Tumbler Ridge when a fast-moving wildfire encroached on the town.
A statement on the District of Tumbler Ridge website says an evacuation alert will remain in place indefinitely, “and residents are reminded to be ready to evacuate the area with little notice should the need be determined.”
Residents were told to leave on June 8 when the West Kiskatinaw wildfire threatened to overrun the community.
Recent rain and a change in winds calmed the wildfire, although it remains classified as out of control.
The BC Wildfire Service says the West Kiskatinaw fire has grown to 250 square kilometres since it was discovered on June 6.
Federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said Thursday that many people in Alberta, B.C. and Quebec have been able to return home but thousands remain displaced due to fires across the country.
That includes 13,022 people in Alberta, 1,994 in Quebec, and 820 in Nova Scotia. In addition there are 3,266 people from First Nations still under evacuation orders.
Blair said rain and cooler weather have helped improve the fire situation significantly in the Maritimes and parts of Quebec, but that’s not the case everywhere.
“The hot, dry and windy conditions in parts of Western Canada, and in Ontario are exacerbating an already dangerous set of circumstances and we know the peak of the wildfire season may still be several weeks away,” he said.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre was reporting 446 active fires, of which 217 are out of control. The centre was reporting 127 fires in Quebec, 83 in Alberta, 70 in British Columbia and 56 in Ontario.
Blair says more than 53,000 square kilometres have burned in Canada so far this season, which is almost three times the size of Lake Ontario.
Cooler weather has stalled growth of a huge wildfire in northeastern B.C. burning just a few kilometres from the Alaska Highway.
A statement from the wildfire service says travel on the key route linking Yukon and the northeast corner of B.C. to the rest of the province could be affected within a day or two as the 5,000-square-kilometre Donnie Creek wildfire expands.
An evacuation alert covers both sides of a section of the highway between Fort Nelson and Fort St. John and the wildfire service says teams are protecting critical infrastructure along the route and could use planned ignitions to create back burns to keep flames away from the road.
Containment lines are holding around the Vancouver Island wildfire that closed Highway 4 east of Port Alberni on June 6, cutting off paved access to that city and the communities of Tofino and Ucluelet.
Efforts to clear fallen trees and rocks above the highway are underway and the province has said limited travel could resume by next weekend.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15.
