Crews keep close watch on one B.C. wildfire, as another delays school in northeast

Wildfire officials in British Columbia say they are working with BC Parks and the Transportation Ministry to prepare for the spread of a blaze that has charred 19 square kilometres of bush in a provincial park east of Vancouver.

The lightning-caused fire is burning south of Highway 3 in E.C. Manning Park, roughly five kilometres southwest of the Manning Park Resort.

It’s not immediately threatening the resort, Highway 3 or other infrastructure, but the BC Wildfire Service says the blaze has had the potential to grow aggressively since it spread into Canada last week from Washington state.

Several trails and facilities in Manning Park are under evacuation order and the blaze is one of three currently listed as a fire of note in the province.

In northeastern B.C., a 119-square-kilometre fire west of Hudson’s Hope has prompted evacuation orders and alerts that have also forced the local school district to delay the start of elementary school classes until next week unless conditions improve.

The lightning-caused fire broke out Aug. 30, one day before lighting sparked another fire southeast of Tumbler Ridge, and both out-of-control blazes have been fuelled by heat and high winds.

Feature image by iStock.com/sharply_done