Editor’s note: As of 7:20 AM on Tuesday, January 30, 2024 – the BC Wildfire Service Wildfires Map shows 91 active wildfires. None of them are in our area. The closest are three fires about 300 kilometres to the northeast in the Coldstream Creek area of the Cariboo. Beyond that: all the fires appear to be in the northeast quarter of BC.

There have not been any major fires in our area in recent decades. The largest known fire on Cortes was in Gorge Harbour during 1932. More than half of Quadra Island was consumed by fire in 1925, but the vast majority of fires since then are less than 4 hectares in extent. This may change as the summers continue to get drier. According to CleanBC, “Climate change is causing more frequent and severe wildfires, floods and extreme heat events across B.C.”

By Tom Summer, Alaska Highway News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

With fire still burning in Northern B.C., the Peace River Regional District has begun development of community wildfire resilience plans for their four electoral areas, mapping wildfire risk and identifying high flammability areas.