Forest fire season upon us
The forest fire season has officially started in the Prince George zone.
Prince George Fire Centre information officer Jillian Chimko says this week has seen two fires in the zone, which ranges from near Hixon in the south to close to Mackenzie to the north, and from about halfway to Vanderhoof in the west to halfway to McBride to the east.
"These were our first fires in the zone this season," Chimko said. "Neither was very big, but they are a warning to people that the season is here."
The larger fire was at Weedon Lake, near McLeod Lake, and it was only a hectare in size. The other fire was simply a spot fire.
Chimko says that as of Wednesday, it was unknown what the causes of the two fires had been.
"The number of lightning fires in the district is picking up, so we need people to be careful. We don't want to have to divert our resources to handle a human-caused fire."
She said while the Prince George district had been relatively quiet so far this season, there had been reminders from other areas of what forest fires can do.
"You look at Alberta and the Northwest Territories, the fires they've had."
Chimko reminds people who see a forest fire of any size to report it as soon as possible to 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on most cellular phones.
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