List of fires in British Columbia

Last updated

British Columbia is the westernmost province in Canada, and is prone to fires. Fires are extremely common during summer, and 2017 had the worst fire season on record. [1]

Contents

Inclusion criteria and organization

Only fires with at least 10,000 hectares burned are allowed, unless deaths involved. The fires are organized by date. If there are multiple fires on a certain date, the larger fire goes on top.

1908

Fire nameHectares burnedDate discoveredCommentsLink
Fernie fire64,00022 deaths, town of Fernie completely destroyed. [2]

1938

Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLink
Bloedel fire75,000SaywardJuly 5 19380 deaths, the fire burned for 30 days on the north of Vancouver Island directly outside the village of Sayward. The effort to extinguish the fire was the largest in British Columbia's history up to that point. It was British Columbia's largest recorded wildfire until it was surpassed in size by the Chelaslie River fire in 2014. [3]

2003

Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLink
Midwinter Lake fire32,000Prince George
Chilko Lake/Chilko River fire29,202Cariboo
McLure fire26,420Kamloops
Okanagan Mountain Park fire25,600Kelowna
Lamb Creek fire11,882Southeast [4]
McGillvray fire10,979Kamloops

2004

Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLink
Coal River fire32,000Prince George
Swan Lake fire29,962Northwest
Lonesome Lake fire22,745CaribooHistoric "Crusoe of Lonesome Lake" homestead lost. [5]
McBride River fire14,000Northwest
Kotcho Lake fire13,325Prince George
Kenney fire10,300Prince George

2005

Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLink
15 km East of Tatuk Lake fire12,371Prince George

2006

Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLink
Mt Hamelin fire12,051Prince George
Narcosli Ecological Reserve fire11,500Cariboo
Tezla Lake fire10,961Cariboo
Dall Lake fire10,600Prince George

2009

Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLink
Lava Canyon fire66,719Cariboo
Junction of Smith and Liard Rivers fire23,182Prince George
Kelly Creek fire20,925Cariboo

2010

Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLink
NW of Meldrum Creek Complex47,293Cariboo
Binta Lake fire40,000Northwest
Pelican Lake Complex35,506Cariboo
Old Faddy fire35,284Northwest
Bull Canyon Complex35,000Cariboo [6]
Sheslay River fire28,000Northwest
NW of Tsacha Lake fire13,087Prince George

2011

Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLink
Blue River fire11,000Northwest

2012

Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLink
White Spruce Creek fire24,852Prince George
Suhm Creek fire12,196Prince George

2014

Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLink
Chelaslie River fire133,098Northwest
Tenakihi-Mesilinka Complex fire64,576Prince George
Forres Mountain fire29,672Prince George
Red Deer Creek fire33,547Prince George
Mount McAllister fire26,273Prince George
Euchiniko Lakes fire21,518Prince George

2015

Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredLink
Little Bobtail Lake fire25,569Prince GeorgeMay 8
Elaho fire12,523Coastal

2016

Fire nameHectares burnedDate discoveredLink
Beatton Airport Road fire15,739April 18
Siphon Creek Road / Doig Reserve fire62,700April 18

2017

Fire nameHectares burnedDate discoveredLink
Elephant Hill fire191,865July 6 [7]
The Plateau fire545,151July 7 [8]
Hanceville Riske Creek fire241,160July 7 [9]
Kleena Kleene25,558July 7 [10]
White Lake fire13,211July 7 [11]
Wildwood fire12,723July 7 [12]
Kluskoil Lake 1 fire21,870July 10 [13]
Gustafsen Lake fire5,700July 6 [14]

2018

Fire nameHectares burnedDate discoveredLink
Tommy Lakes fire21,795May 22 [15]
Snowy Mountain fire17,068July 17 [16]
Shovel Lake fire92,255July 27 [17]
Chutanli Lake fire20,412July 30 [18]
North of Tezzeron Lake fire10,602July 30 [19]
Nadina Lake fire86,766July 31 [20]
Verdun Mountain fire34,586July 31 [21]
Alkali Lake fire118,318August 1 [22]
Shag Creek fire12,322August 1 [23]
Island Lake fire20,468August 1 [24]
North Baezaeko fire11,508August 1 [25]
Lutz Creek fire76,100August 4 [26]
W Babine River fire10,800August 5 [27]
Hugh Allen Creek fire10,000August 6 [28]
Tweedsmuir Complex301,549August 8 [29]
Cool Creek fire13,626August 15 [30]

2021

2022

Fire nameHectares burnedDate discoveredLink
R90436 (Unnamed)12,330July 2
Heather Lake fire14,970August 21 [31]
Battleship Mountain fire31,755August 30 [32]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "B.C. surpasses worst wildfire season on record | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  2. ↑ "firesmartcanada.ca" (PDF). firesmartcanada. June 3, 2018.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. ↑ Parminter, John (1994). "Darkness at Noon - The Bloedel Fire of 1938" (PDF). Research Branch of the B.C. Forest Service. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-06-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ↑ Mickleburgh, Rod (27 July 2004). "B.C. Fire destroys fabled home". The Globe and Mail.
  6. ↑ "Wildfire Season Summary - Province of British Columbia".
  7. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  8. ↑ "Wildfire Season Summary". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  9. ↑ "Wildfire Season Summary". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  10. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  11. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  12. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  13. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  14. ↑ "Gustafsen Wildfire".
  15. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  16. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  17. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  18. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  19. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  20. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  21. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  22. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  23. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  24. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  25. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  26. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  27. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  28. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  29. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  30. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  31. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  32. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
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