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Another evacuation order was issued Monday due to the Brunswick Creek wildfire burning near Boston Bar, B.C.
The Boston Bar First Nation said anyone living in IR 2 Kopchitchin must leave immediately.
Three existing evacuation orders — for the Boston Bar area, North Bend community and surrounding area, and Boothroyd Indian Band community — remain.
An evacuation alert, meaning residents must be ready to leave at a moment’s notice, is in place for the Boston Bar area.
Boston Bar is located along Highway 1 and the Fraser River, about 55 kilometres north of Hope.
After a period of heavy smoke and bad visibility that grounded aircraft, the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) resumed aerial operations on Tuesday.
A review of the fire, which remains out of control after first being discovered on July 2, found it had expanded to 18 square kilometres (1,800 hectares).
Fire information officer Julia Caranci said a spot fire at nearby Ainslie Creek also remains out of control at 6.95 square kilometres (695 hectares).
“We are going to face some challenges and likely some growth in those two fires over the next couple of days while we see more challenging conditions,” Caranci said.
“We are hopefully going to get a little bit of a cool-down, maybe some slightly better conditions later in the week, and then we may see the heat come back again.”
A 10.5-kilometre stretch of Highway 1 between Boston Bar Station Road and Ainslie Road North has been closed.
Caranci urged motorists not to pull over to take photographs.
“Just stay out of that active wildfire area and allow us to do our work,” she said.
“We want to protect the safety of the public as well. It’s just not safe for them to be pulling over there.”
Environment Canada has issued air quality warnings for the eastern Fraser Valley due to the wildfire.
Air quality warnings are also in effect for the north and south of the Fraser Canyon and North Harrison Lake.
The BCWS’s online situation page says the fire was human-caused, which is how any wildfire not sparked by lightning is categorized.
