As the three wildfires making up the Brunswick Creek complex near Boston Bar remain out of control, the growth of one of them — the Ainslie Creek wildfire — has prompted the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) to put an evacuation order in place and expand an evacuation alert.
The evacuation order, issued on Saturday (July 25), covers 61 addressed properties in Electoral Areas “I” and “N” near Canford. The northernmost part of the area now under order is bounded by Highway 8.
The evacuation alert issued by the TNRD on Saturday now covers a total of 647 addressed properties in Areas “I” and “N” in the Lower Nicola, Canford, and Sunshine Valley areas. It expands on two previous alerts, issued on July 8 and July 24.
On Saturday the Lower Nicola Indian Band issued an evacuation alert related to the Ainslie Creek fire, while the Nooaitch Indian Band has issued an evacuation order.
The Ainslie Creek wildfire was discovered on July 4, and is now estimated at 17,999 hectares. BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) says that fire behaviour in the northeast portion of the fire increased “notably” around midday on Friday (July 24) and remained elevated into the evening, with “aggressive activity” observed.
On Friday evening, one of the fingers on the northeast corner of the fire made a significant run, growing by approximately five kilometres. Fire activity eased overnight on July 24/25, with cooler temperatures and higher humidity on Saturday expected to help moderate fire behaviour. However, localized gusty winds of 40 to 50 km/hr could increase fire activity in exposed areas.
The Anderson Creek wildfire — one of two other fires in the Brunswick Creek complex — was discovered on July 21, and had grown to 9,784 hectares as of Saturday. Like the Ainslie Creek fire, it is on the east side of Highway 1 near Boston Bar, and on Friday its northern edge ran into the southwestern edge of the earlier fire and merged with it.
Weather conditions were more favourable overnight on July 24/25, and while the fire remained active on the slopes over Canyon Alpine, no significant eastward growth occurred. Crews are working to reinforce containment lines around Canyon Alpine, and continue to mop up and reinforce along the containment line east of Highway 1 near Boston Bar.
The third fire in the complex is the Brunswick Creek wildfire, which was discovered on July 2 and is now estimated at 7,414 hectares. It is burning on the west side of the Fraser River, and the southern edges of both it and the Anderson Creek fire extend to roughly the location of China Bar tunnel in the Fraser Canyon.
The south end of the fire remains quite active, with the fire burning on the north and south slopes of Scuzzy Creek and upslope to the west of the Fraser River. It has crested the ridge upslope of Green Ranch Road, burning down the back side of the mountain. However, BCWS notes that the Brunswick Creek fire is not moving to the south at a significant rate.
All three fires — which as of Saturday had a combined size of 35,197 hectares — are suspected to have been human-caused.
The Fraser-Valley Regional District (FVRD) has issued numerous evacuation orders pertaining to the Brunswick Creek complex, which extend from north of Nahatlatch FSR in the north to Alexandra Lodge in the south. An evacuation alert has been issued for the area along the Trans-Canada Highway between Alexandra Lodge and Alexandra Bridge.
The Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) remains closed through the Fraser Canyon from Spuzzum Creek Road to Jackass Summit. There is no estimated date/time of reopening. For information about highway closures and detour routes, visit DriveBC.
For information about the wildfire situation in the province, visit the BC Wildfire Service website.
For information about evacuation alerts and orders associated with the Brunswick complex fires, visit the TNRD’s Emergency Services dashboard, the FVRD’s Emergency Operations Centre webpage, and EmergencyInfoBC.
The FVRD’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) can be reached at 1-778-704-0400. The TNRD’s EOC can be reached at 250-377-7188 (toll-free at 1-866-377-7188).