The Plateau Fire located 60km west of Quesnel and 60km northwest of Williams Lake has grown significantly to 517,140 hectares after strong westerly winds since Wednesday fueled growth.
“The growth that we experienced on the South Plateau is on the west side, but we’ve got crews in there putting in some guard. We’ve also had some growth on the northeast part of the fire,” says Plateau South Fire Information Officer Amanda Reynolds.
“We currently have over 300 firefighters working on the South Plateau area of the fire.”
Reynolds says they are expecting increased northwest winds gusting up to 50km per hour which could result in more fire behavior and challenges in making sure that the fire stays within the perimeter and contingency lines.
A total of 553 firefighters, 31 helicopters, and 93 pieces of equipment with other support staff are working on the blaze.
– with files from Rebecca Kelli, My Cariboo Now