2018 British Columbia wildfires

2018 British Columbia wildfires
Wildfire smoke from the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains and beyond, filling the BC interior and Eastern Washington; August 20, 2018
Date
  • Evacuations:
    Ended, 2018
    Provincial state of emergency: August 15, 2018 – September 7, 2018
LocationBritish Columbia, Canada
Statistics
Burned area1,351,314[1] hectares (3,339,170 acres) as of November 9, 2018[1]
Land useForest and residential
Impacts
DeathsUnknown
InjuriesUnknown
Structures destroyed~50 homes [2][3]
CostUnknown
Ignition
CauseLightning and Human-Caused
← 2017
Wildfires over British Columbia and northern Washington on August 8

In the first half of 2018, British Columbia suffered more than 560 wildfires.[4] By the end of the year, more than two thousand wildfires had burned more than 1,351,314 hectares (3,339,170 acres) of land.[5]

Lightning caused the Comstock Lake fire, discovered on June 21. By July 6, it had grown to 27.5 square kilometres (10.6 sq mi) and still was not fully contained.[6] At one point more than 200 personnel were fighting the fire complex.[7]

The Tugwell Creek fire near Sooke grew to 85 hectares (210 acres), and was 10% contained by July 4.[8] The fire threatened millions of honeybees at Tugwell Creek Honey Farm and Meadery. It was fully contained on July 9.[9]

The Shovel Fire, started on July 27, burned at least 86,397 hectares (213,490 acres). It was still active as of August 20. Thick smoke slowed efforts to contain the fire.[10]

A human-caused fire at Nanaimo Lakes, discovered on July 1, had burned 14.5 hectares in three days.[8]

As of August 28, estimates put 2018's wildfire season as having the largest burn-area in a BC wildfire season,[1] surpassing the historic 2017 wildfire season and its burn-area of 1,216,053 hectares).[11] The total land burned in 2018 covered about ~1.4% of the area of the province.

Largest fires in 2018
Ranking Fire Size Date discovered Status Ref
1 Tweedsmuir Complex fire 301,549 hectares (745,140 acres) August 8 Out [12]
2 Johnny Creek Fire 156,775 hectares (387,400 acres) August 4 Out [13]
3 Alkali Lake Complex fire 121,215 hectares (299,530 acres) August 1 Out [14]
4 Lutz Creek Complex fire 100,799 hectares (249,080 acres) August 4 Out [13]
5 Shovel Lake fire 92,412 hectares (228,360 acres) July 27 Out [10]
6 Nadina Lake fire 86,767 hectares (214,410 acres) July 31 Out [15]
7 Verdun Mountain fire 47,610 hectares (117,600 acres) July 31 Out [16]
8 Silver Lake fire 23,042 hectares (56,940 acres) August 5 Out [17]
9 Tommy Lakes 21,795 hectares (53,860 acres) May 22 Out [18]
10 Island Lake fire 21,381 hectares (52,830 acres) August 1 Out [17]
11 Chutanli Lake fire 20,813 hectares (51,430 acres) August 1 Out [17]

Smoke

Wildfires caused severe smoke to cover much of British Columbia. It has impacted tourism and cancelled flights.[19] The smoke spread across Canada and as far as Ireland. In Prince George, British Columbia smoke orange sky at 8:40 AM, and 9:10 AM turns into midnight from wildfires. Then 3 PM in Grande Prairie, Alberta thick layered smoke plume generated by the fire which turned day into night during the afternoon of that day at the location.[20]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Current Statistics". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca.
  2. ↑ "British Columbia wildfire season now second worst in province's history". CTV. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  3. ↑ "Here’s a list of B.C.’s most destructive wildfires seasons" August 8, 2026 https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/08/08/heres-a-list-of-b-c-s-most-destructive-wildfires-seasons/ accessed 2026-08-26
  4. ↑ Tiffany Crawford (June 28, 2018), "B.C. Wildfire Service urges caution heading into long weekend", Vancouver Sun
  5. ↑ "Current Statistics". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-11-10.
  6. ↑ Scott Brown (July 6, 2018), "B.C. Wildfire Map 2018: Updates on fire locations, evacuation alerts/orders", Vancouver Sun
  7. ↑ MELANIE LAW (June 28, 2018), "BC Wildfire Service sets up operational camp near Comstock Lake Fire More than 200 personnel will camp on the Pelican Lake Service Road", Quesnel Cariboo Observer
  8. 1 2 Wildfire burning near Sooke explodes in size due to high winds, CTV News, July 4, 2018, archived from the original on July 5, 2018
  9. ↑ CTV News twitter July 9, 2018
  10. 1 2 "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  11. ↑ Service, BC Wildfire. "Wildfire Averages - Province of British Columbia". www2.gov.bc.ca.
  12. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  13. 1 2 "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  14. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  15. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  16. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  17. 1 2 3 "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  18. ↑ "Wildfires of Note". bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  19. ↑ "Flights cancelled as B.C. wildfire smoke chokes airports | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  20. ↑ "B.C.'s wildfire smoke isn't just floating across Canada — it's reaching Ireland". Global News. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
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