B.C. wildfire quadruples in size in one day, but is now 20 per cent contained

CLINTON, B.C. – Crews are making good progress as they try to tame a wildfire burning in B.C.’s Cariboo region at Big Bar Creek, 40 kilometres west of Clinton.

Fire information officer Jenny Fremlin says the blaze has backened just over four square kilometres of woodland, up from one square kilometre on Wednesday morning.

She says 117 firefighters and a specialized incident management team are working to contain the flames, aided by several pieces of heavy equipment and helicopters dropping water.

Fremlin says guards have been built around 20 per cent of the fire’s perimeter and an evacuation order covering about 15 homes and 40 people has been downgraded, although an alert remains in place.

Most residents in the region defied the order to get out, saying they are confident of their escape plans, and they blame the media for overstating the severity of the situation.

The blaze, in beetle-killed and tinder dry brush roughly 125 kilometres west of Kamloops, flared Tuesday after a house fire spread to nearby undergrowth. (CHNL, The Canadian Press)