Wildfires shut down two critical B.C highways on Wednesday.
The Coquihalla Highway (Highway 5) between Hope and Merritt, connecting the Lower Mainland with the Interior, was closed late Wednesday afternoon due to the nearby Mine Creek wildfire.
Highway 20, east of Bella Coola in the Central Coast region and west of Anahim Lake in the Cariboo area, has also been closed due to a separate wildfire. No immediate detour was posted on DriveBC, and the next update is expected Thursday morning.
Wildfires burning in B.C. have led to poor air quality across the province, with smoky conditions expected to linger in many regions for at least a few days, and impacts already being felt on transportation routes.
⛔️<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCHwy5?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#BCHwy5</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Coquihalla?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Coquihalla</a> Highway remains closed in both directions between <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/HopeBC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#HopeBC</a> & <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Merritt?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Merritt</a> due to wildfire activity. No estimated time of reopening. Alternate route via <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCHwy1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#BCHwy1</a> or <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCHwy3?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#BCHwy3</a>. <br><br>Commercial vehicles are not to use <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCHwy8?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#BCHwy8</a>. <a href=”https://t.co/69XekFcmbr”>https://t.co/69XekFcmbr</a> <a href=”https://t.co/Fx8l7Q9Cth”>pic.twitter.com/Fx8l7Q9Cth</a>
—@DriveBC
DriveBC first tweeted about the closure to the Coquihalla Highway just before 4 p.m. PT on Wednesday, and the stretch is closed in both directions from Merritt to Hope.
Officials say that drivers on the route should expect delays. They’ve been advised to detour via Highway 1 or Highway 3.
The closure comes as the nearby Mine Creek fire continues to burn out of control, having grown to 483 hectares since it was discovered Monday.
On Monday, it covered an area just over 100 hectares, and it was suspected to have been sparked by lightning.
B.C. Wildfire Service information officer Taylor Stewart-Shantz told CBC News on Wednesday night that the fire jumped the highway and was burning aggressively.
While the fire was burning upslope on Monday and Tuesday, into ground that had already been charred in 2021, that changed for the worse on Wednesday after high winds caused it to grow fast.
“The good news is that as we head into September, our days are shorter and we are seeing OK recoveries overnight,” she said.
“So with the cooler temperatures and little bit of humidity that we get overnight, we do see a decrease in fire behaviour, and the objectives will be to [fight] the fire as much as possible in the morning.”
An update from the wildfire service on Wednesday says that the fire is burning with a high intensity, saying it was burning to the tops of trees and extremely vigorously.
Embers from the fire were creating smaller spot fires ahead of the main fire, according to firefighters.
“The fire is currently threatening the Coquihalla Highway (Highway 5); at the recommendation of the Wildfire Service the Ministry of Transportation and Transit has closed down the highway at this time,” the update read.
At 8 p.m. PT Wednesday, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District issued an evacuation order for one property along the side of the highway, as well as evacuation alerts for 84 rural properties nearby.
An evacuation alert means that residents should be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice, while an evacuation order means they should leave immediately.
Stewart-Shantz said structure protection specialists, along with helicopters and ground crews, were working to fight the wildfire on Wednesday.
Highway 20 also closed
DriveBC said just after 5 p.m. PT that Highway 20, west of Anahim Lake in the Cariboo area, had been closed due to the Beef Trail Creek wildfire.
That wildfire resulted in evacuation orders for 150 parcels of land, and multiple First Nation reserves, in the Cariboo Regional District and Ulkatcho First Nation on Tuesday.
The next update is on the stretch is expected at 8 a.m. PT on Thursday.
