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“It’s been drying up here,”: Crews continue to battle vast Donnie Creek wildfire

The Donnie Creek wildfire, 136 km southeast of Fort Nelson is showing some intense behaviour once again.

It continues to burn at over 157-thousand hectares in size and is the only fire of note in the Prince George Fire Centre.

Fire Information Officer, Bryan Zandberg told Vista Radio the current weather conditions aren’t helping.

“It has been drying up here since last week, Wednesday. The activity we saw was in proximity to some of the industry camps and infrastructure on the landscape.”

To put it mildly, the blaze continues to pose its fair share of challenges.

“It’s pretty cold up here, we are seeing less activity from the fire but it is very massive. The size of the Donnie Creek fire is larger than all of the hectares burned in BC combined last summer,” added Zandberg.

Zandberg also noted focusing on the remote areas of the fire remains key.

“We are in a position where we need to monitor large areas of the fire that are quite remote where there are no homes and there is really no access. We are really focused on the southern part of the Donnie Creek wildfire.”

Over the weekend, the Peace River Regional District issued Evacuation Orders due to the wildfire’s proximity to several work camps in the area.

Crews are planning ignitions where a fire is used to eliminate problematic fuels – smoke may be seen from along Highway 97.

Province-wide, there are 60 wildfires burning in BC, roughly half of those (39) are in the PG Fire Centre.

Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].

Brendan Pawliw
Brendan Pawliw
Since moving to Prince George in 2015, Brendan has covered local sports including the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, Prince George Spruce Kings, UNBC Timberwolves, Cariboo Cougars AAA, and Northern Capitals U18 female hockey teams. Career highlights include play-by-play during the Spruce Kings' BCHL championship runs in 2018 and 2019, including the Doyle Cup win. He also covered the 2019 National Junior A Championship, the 2017 Telus Cup, the 2022 World Women’s Curling Championship, and the 2022 BC Summer Games. Brendan is the news voice on 94.3 The Goat and Country 97 FM, reporting on crime, real estate, labour, and environmental issues. Outside of work, he officiates box lacrosse and fastball, sits on the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame board, and co-hosts the Hockey North podcast.

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