B.C. wildfire fighters are working to knock out a small out-of-control blaze in the province鈥檚 northeast, near the municipality of Chetwynd.
The Hasler Flats wildfire was discovered on Friday (Feb. 23) and has since grown to about 8 hectares in size.
It鈥檚 relatively small and not immediately threatening any communities, but the BC Wildfire Service has classified it as out-of-control, meaning it is continuing to spread and isn鈥檛 responding to suppression efforts.
The service says it believes the wildfire was human caused and says it is battling it with a 鈥渇ull response.鈥�
The Hasler Flats fire is the only out-of-control wildfire currently burning in B.C., but it is far from the only active blaze. Another 91 wildfires are being tracked by the BC Wildfire Service, most of them remnants of last year鈥檚 record-breaking season.
Premier David Eby said Friday that he is 鈥減rofoundly worried鈥� about wildfires in B.C. He noted the serious drought conditions the province continues to face and expressed fear that the coming summer could be another difficult one.
Federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan also sounded the alarm last week.
鈥淓arly reporting suggests that this year鈥檚 wildfire season could be worse than the last.鈥�
According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, Canada saw 18.4 million hectares burn in 2023. Of them, about 2.84 million were in B.C.
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