Bearhole Lake Wildfire September 10, photo courtesy BC Wildfire Service

By Erika Rolling

Wildfires

Two B.C. wildfires blanketing Peace region with smoky conditions

Sep 12, 2022 | 1:08 PM

The Bearhole Lake and Battleship Mountain wildfires west of the Alberta-B.C. border continue to burn out of control. Both have brought smoke into the Peace Country for the past several days.

Battleship Mountain wildfire

This wildfire is estimated at 28,765 hectares in size and is located about 50 km west of Hudson’s Hope and 4 km from the WAC Bennett Dam.

The fire grew rapidly on Saturday, September 10, due to increased winds and temperatures.

Working on the Battleship Mountain fire are:

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• 17 firefighters are working during the day and an additional 16 are working on night operations.
• 60 Structure Protection personnel are working on this fire, five of which are working on night operations.
• 12 helicopters are being shared between the fires of the Battleship Complex.
• 15 pieces of heavy equipment and seven additional operational staff working with the equipment operators during the day.
• Five danger tree assessors and fallers are supporting the incident.

The B.C. Wildfire Service is expecting increased and aggressive fire behaviour with temperatures increasing in the coming days, and is using planned ignitions to remove fuel between control lines and the free-burning edge of the wildfire.

Bearhole Lake wildfire

No significant growth has been reported for the Bearhole Lake wildfire approximately 20 km west of the Alberta-B.C. border near Kelly Lake.

The fire has not crossed Highway 52 E, and B.C Wildfire Services says the approximate size of the wildfire is 6,531 hectares.

Today (September 13), a 400 hectare ignition operation is planned on the north flank of the fire this afternoon to further secure area of the fire to help minimize the risk of further spread and the operation will only be carried out if wind and weather conditions are favorable.

If conducted, large amounts of smoke will be highly visible in the County of Grande Prairie area. The operation will include a combination of aerial and hand-ignition to bring the fire to pre-determined control lines through heavy equipment with crews will be stationed along the guard to support the operations with hand-ignition and to action any spotting across the line that may occur. Helicopters will be supporting by providing water to cool the edges of the fire.

Resources working on the fire include:

• 103 firefighters
• 10 helicopters
• 18 heavy equipment

An Evacuation Alert for residents in and around Kelly Lake by the Peace River Regional District has been rescinded.

The County of Grande Prairie is not currently threated by the wildfire.