Wildfire near Clinton, B.C., expected to grow as dry conditions, stronger winds approach

Wildfire near Clinton, B.C., expected to grow as dry conditions, stronger winds approach

Evacuation order expanded to 70 Mile House Monday morning

A fire burning near Clinton, B.C., is forcing more evacuations Monday, with the wildfire service saying "extreme fire behaviour" is expected on it this week.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District issued an evacuation order for 70 Mile House Monday morning, a day after warning residents that they should start packing up.

The order covers about 650 properties, according to the district.

The fire threatening the area, the Pear Lake wildfire, merged with the Fiftynine Creek fire on Saturday, and was burning over an area of about 633 square kilometres (63,368 hectares) as of Monday morning.

"Hot and dry conditions will return today and into the week," the B.C. Wildfire Service said in an update on the fire.

It added that winds will increase to about 15-25 km/h in the area, with gusts up to 50 km/h.

Taken together, the weather conditions are expected to cause "extreme fire behaviour" and increased growth, BCWS said.

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Evacuation orders and alerts also remain in place for areas near Boston Bar in the Fraser Canyon, where the Brunswick wildfire complex is burning.

BCWS said Sunday that cooler temperatures and higher humidity had moderated fire behaviour there, and that those conditions were expected to persist early through this week.

Highway 1 remains closed in both directions between Spuzzum Creek Road and Jackass Summit due to the wildfire. Motorists are encouraged to check DriveBC for the most up-to-date information.

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More than 135 fires were burning across the province Monday morning.

BCWS said personnel will be coming from the Yukon, Alberta and Mexico in the coming days to add capacity to local resources.