BC Wildfire Weekly - Wildfires + More

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Posts about 🇨🇦/🇺🇸wildfires, disaster relief, public safety, & more. #BCWildfire when active. Not a government agency. Follows, mentions & reposts do not necessarily equal endorsement. Header 📸: Shawn Cahill https://linktr.ee/bcwildfirewkly

MAP of evacuation order area via TNRD X post: https://x.com/tnrd/status/2077894669128937755?s=61&t=3JI7urlL18R8xlm_lS7bYQ

Heat Alerts and Extreme Heat Response

Heat Alert Issued - July 15, 2026

On July 15, 2026, Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a yellow heat warning for our region. A Yellow Heat Warning is issued when forecast temperatures are expected to create moderate health risks, particularly for seniors, people with chronic health conditions, those who live alone, and other heat-vulnerable individuals. Residents are encouraged to take precautions to stay cool and hydrated, reduce exposure during the hottest parts of the day, and check in on family, friends, and neighbours who may be at greater risk of heat-related illness.

Heat
Parts of British Columbia
July 15, 2026, 11:05 AM
Status: Active

ADVISORY

Heat Advisory
Source: Environment Canada

Description
Yellow warning - heat - in effect

Heat affects everyone, but the risks are greater for: seniors, people who live alone, people with pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or respiratory disease, people with mental illness such as schizophrenia, depression, or anxiety, people with substance use disorders, people with limited mobility.

Check on family, friends and neighbours, who are at higher risk, particularly if they live alone, to make sure they have a cool space.

For more information: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/climate-change-health/extreme-heat/how-protect-yourself.html https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/climate-change-health/extreme-heat/who-is-at-risk.html

To get more information: - Check the local news for health and safety updates. - Check HealthLinkBC online resources about heat-related illness and how to protect yourself at https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthlinkbc-files/heat-related-illness. - Call HealthLinkBC at 8-1-1 to ask about heat-related illness.

Environment Canada and local Medical Health Officers expect an increase in health and safety risks from heat and are advising the public to take precautions.

Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to BCstorm@ec.gc.ca or post reports on X using #BCStorm.

MAP of effected area.

Staying cool and getting support to do so is particularly important for:

Older adults, especially those aged 60 years or older

People with schizophrenia, depression, anxiety disorders or dementia

Those who live alone

People with pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or respiratory disease

People with substance use disorders, including alcohol

People with limited mobility

People experiencing homelessness or who are marginally housed

People who are pregnant

Infants and young children

Screenshot of road closure area via Drive BC

⛔️#BCHwy1 - The highway is now CLOSED between Boston Bar Station Rd and Ainslie Rd N due to the #BrunswickCreek wildfire. #BostonBar

ℹ️More info: https://www.drivebc.ca/?pan=-121.38546498710504%2C49.90369544104985&zoom=12.249870907413056&type=event&display_category=closures&id=DBC-93451 - Drive BC via X: https://x.com/drivebc/status/2074627291083358512?s=61&t=3JI7urlL18R8xlm_lS7bYQ

#BCWildfire

According to a Primary and Preventative Health Services Ministry spokesperson, no one will be laid off as a result of the transition.

“Our goal is to ensure affected employees are treated fairly and respectfully throughout the process while maintaining uninterrupted public health services that Albertans rely on,” the spokesperson told CBC News in an emailed statement.

“Public health inspection services, outbreak investigations, enforcement activities, and other public health protections will continue without interruption before, during, and after the transition.”

The spokesperson said the ministry won’t comment further, as negotiations continue.

Kalamoir Park wildfire prompts tactical evacuations in West Kelowna

Tuesday, June 16, 2026 - 13:07
Kalamoir Park Wildfire
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – Tactical evacuations underway for the Kalamoir Park wildfire in the areas of Casa Loma and Lakeview Heights:

Lakeview Heights

Collens Hill Road
Lakeview Road
Lake Ridge Road
Weatherhill Road
Casa Loma areas:

Casa Loma Road
Benedick Road
Lucinde Road
Casa Palmero Road
Alice Road
Portions of Campbell Road

See coemergency.ca/map for details.

Screenshot of Green Avenue West area in Penticton from Google Maps

Map of affected area on Green Avenue West, Penticton provided by the City of Penticton

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — One of four Canadians who returned home from a cruise ship where there was a hantavirus outbreak received a “presumptive positive” test result for the virus, Canadian officials said Saturday.

Results from the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg to confirm the case are expected to come over the weekend, said Dr. Bonnie Henry, the public health officer for the province of British Columbia.

“Clearly this is not what we hoped for, but it is what we planned for,” Henry said.

The person, one member of a couple in their 70s, began showing mild symptoms, including a fever and headache, two days ago. Both are in a hospital in Victoria.

“The patient is stable, the symptoms remain mild at this point,” said Henry. “They are still in hospital, in isolation, being monitored and receiving care as needed.”

The second person showed “very minor symptoms” and tests were negative, she said.

A magnitude 4.0 earthquake has occurred 31 km ENE of Daajing Giids, BC. There is NO tsunami threat to #BC. The earthquake was felt in #PortClements & #Masset. There are no reports of damage, and none would be expected. If you feel shaking: Drop, Cover and Hold On.
More info: https://www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/recent/2026/20260512.2035/index-en.php #BCEarthquake #HaidaGwaii

Argentine officials have said the couple took a bird-watching tour that included a stop at a garbage dump where they may have been exposed to rodents carrying the infection. The Health Ministry said its team will investigate the landfill and other locations the couple visited where rats known to carry the virus are found, although local officials in the province where the cruise departed have challenged the theory it began there.

A total of 87 passengers and 35 crew were escorted from the ship to shore in Tenerife, in Spain's Canary Islands, by personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks in a carefully choreographed effort that ended Monday night.

Two aircraft arrived in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven overnight carrying Dutch nationals as well as passengers from Australia and New Zealand and crew members from the Philippines. All were placed into quarantine, according to the Dutch government.

WEAK53 PAAQ 102249
TIBAK1

Tsunami Information Statement Number 1
NWS National Tsunami Warning Center Palmer AK
349 PM PDT Sun May 10 2026

...THIS IS A TSUNAMI INFORMATION STATEMENT...

EVALUATION
----------
* There is NO tsunami danger from this earthquake.

PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS
---------------------------------

* The following parameters are based on a rapid preliminary
assessment of the earthquake and changes may occur.

* Magnitude 4.1
* Origin Time 1445 AKDT May 10 2026
1545 PDT May 10 2026
2245 UTC May 10 2026
* Coordinates 53.1 North 132.8 West
* Depth 12 miles
* Location 40 miles SW of Sandspit, Haida Gwaii
130 miles SW of Prince Rupert, British Columbia

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND NEXT UPDATE
--------------------------------------
* Further information will be issued by the United States
Geological Survey (earthquake.usgs.gov) or the appropriate
regional seismic network.

* This will be the only U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center
message issued for this event unless additional information
becomes available.

$$

Cases rare in Canada

Though rare, the rodent-born pathogen can cause serious, sometimes fatal diseases in humans.

The one most often seen in North America is hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), a severe respiratory disease that usually begins with flu-like symptoms and has a fatality rate of up to 50 per cent, according to the World Health Organization.

Between 1989 and 2020, a total of 143 cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome have been confirmed in Canada, according to a 2020 report led by the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

On average, that works out to about four to five cases a year for the whole country, the report notes.

Qu'est-ce qui cause l'infection à hantavirus?

Les hantavirus sont un groupe de virus qui peuvent causer une grave maladie chez l'humain. Les personnes peuvent devenir infectées à hantavirus quand elles font ce qui suit :

inhaler des particules du virus retrouvées dans l'urine, les excréments ou la salive du rongeur qui ont été soulevées dans l'air
cela peut se produire lorsque les déchets de rongeurs deviennent en suspension dans l'air lorsqu'ils passent dans l'aspirateur ou sont balayés
toucher des objets ou manger des aliments contaminés par l'urine, les excréments ou la salive de rongeurs infectés
sont mordues par un rongeur infecté à hantavirus (rare)

À l'exception de l'hantavirus Andes, le virus ne se transmet pas au contact d'une personne à l'autre.

What causes hantavirus infection?

Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that can cause severe illness in humans. People can become infected with a hantavirus when they:

inhale virus particles from rodent urine, droppings or saliva that have been released into the air
this can happen when rodent waste is stirred up from vacuuming or sweeping
touch objects or eat food contaminated with the urine, droppings or saliva of infected rodents
are bitten by a rodent infected with a hantavirus (this is rare)

With the exception of the Andes hantavirus, the virus does not spread through person-to-person contact.

Map of MV Hondius route via BBC News

Investigators are working under the assumption that the Andes strain of the virus, which spreads in South America where the cruise began, has been found in the two confirmed cases.
The organisation was told there were no rats on board, Van Kerkhove said, adding that disinfection was taking place on the ship and those with symptoms or caring for patients were wearing full personal protective equipment.
"Our working hypothesis is that there's probably a couple of different types of transmission that might be happening," Van Kerkhove told BBC Breakfast on Tuesday.

Landline & cell services have been restored in #Terrace, #Smithers, #PrinceRupert, #Masset, #Hazelton & #BurnsLake. More info:
telus.com/en/bc/outages
#BC #911BC @TELUS

E-Comm 9-1-1 • @EComm911 info • 4h
UPDATE: @TELUS has advised that this outage is now resolved.

Last edited 7:16 AM • 2026-05-04 • 5.2K Views

Alberta government quick facts
Budget 2025 provided $160 million in base funding for wildfire personnel, equipment, training and contracts for aircraft, dozers and night vision equipped helicopters.
Alberta Wildfire responded to more than 1,200 wildfires in the Forest Protection Area this year, roughly the same number as 2024 and exceeding the five-year average by more than 100.
Over 85 per cent of new wildfire starts in 2025 were kept under two hectares in size.
On average, the wildfire size in 2025 was 556 hectares, compared to 604 hectares in 2024.
Human activity, including all activities conducted by Albertans, caused 60 per cent of wildfires in 2025, and lightning strikes caused 37 per cent. Investigations into the causes of the remaining wildfires are still underway.
Alberta had almost 1,300 Alberta firefighters and support staff managing wildfires across the province.

Active Wildfires
21

Declared out in the Last 24
Hours
6

Started in the Last 24 hours
2

Declared out in the Last 7
Days
39

Project map

Partial map of BC showing:

Fort St. John
口
CS-17

Chetwynd
CS-2B
CS-2
CS-3口

CS-4A Summit Lake
Prince George CS-4B
Quesnel CS-5
Williams Lake CS-6A
100 Mile House CS-6B

CS-7 口
Savona
Kamloops
Logan Lake
Merritt

CS-8A 口
Kingsvale

(Shown on inset map to the right over western Alberta)

Hope 口 CS-8B
CS-9 口
Vancouver
Chilliwack

口 Huntingdon/Sumas (meter station)

Shown on left inside an inset map:
(Circle) 100 Mile House
(Square box) CS-6B -
93 Mile House

Shown on left inside a box:
(Dark blue line) T-South pipeline system
(Grey line) T-North pipeline system
(Green line) Proposed pipeline loop
(Light blue line) Proposed powerline
(Box) Existing compressor station
(Dotted green line box) Proposed new compression
(Circle) City/Town

Map is for illustrative purposes only and not to scale. Project design is under development and configuration of pipeline loops, compressor units, additional compressor station modifications, and powerlines are subject to change.

Active Wildfires
23

Started in the Last 24 hours
11

Declared out in the Last 24 Hours
9

Declared out in the Last 7 Days
29

11:39 AM Sat Apr 25

Active Wildfires
23

Started in the Last 24 hours
11

Declared out in the Last 24
Hours
9

Declared out in the Last 7
Days
29

Active Wildfires
24

Started in the Last 24 hours
11

Declared out in the Last 24
Hours
8

Declared out in the Last 7
Days
28

"A recent study estimated anything up to 20,000 whales are killed a year through ship strikes, globally, and that's just an estimate, a best-case estimate."

Robinson said she was surprised to see Swiftsure Bank, off the west coast of Vancouver Island, emerge as a risk hot spot for strikes of fin, blue and humpback whales. The area is a "migration highway" for humpbacks, she noted.

The study also identified a hot spot for the same three species in the Gulf of St. Lawrence between Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

INTRODUCTION
Wildfire regimes across North America are undergoing a profound
transformation, driven by a combination of changing climate (1–3),
altered land use (4, 5), legacy fire suppression policies (6–8), and
shifting ignition patterns (9, 10). Recent research has advanced our
understanding of wildfire trends through cumulative or retrospec-
tive metrics—such as seasonal and annual burned area (3, 11), emis-
sions (12), severity (13, 14), and fire season length (15, 16). However,
these broader indicators fail to capture the increasingly erratic intra-
day dynamics that disrupt the traditional diurnal cycle (i.e., the
24-hour day-night cycle), reshaping modern fires and posing the most
immediate operational and socioeconomic challenges, as increasing
fires were able to spread up to tens of kilometers within hours and
sustain weeks of overnight burning (17–20). These diurnal surges
not only outpace traditional tactics (e.g., nighttime suppression)
and resource mobilization but also place communities at acute risk
with compressed evacuation timeframes and overwhelmed local de-
fenses (21–23), as tragically demonstrated by the 2023 Maui Fire
(Hawaii) (24), the 2024 Jasper Fire (Alberta) (25), and the 2025 Los
Angeles Fires (California) (26).

They found that the boreal forest, or taiga, of Canada, Alaska and the Great Lakes region is seeing earlier fires. This is due to earlier snowmelt, and thus earlier dryness of fuels. Canada experienced its worst wildfire season in 2023 and its second-worst just two years later.

The warm desert Southwest and the Mediterranean-like climate region of California saw a lengthening of the fire season, with more fires burning after the traditional high-risk window.

Prairies and grasslands experienced slight changes in fire season intensity and minimal change in seasonal timing. The Appalachians and Southeastern forests also saw little in the way of seasonal shifts.

While using ChatGPT last June, Van Rootselaar described scenarios involving gun violence over the course of several days, according to people familiar with the matter.

Her posts, flagged by an automated review system, alarmed employees at OpenAI. Internally, about a dozen staffers debated whether to take action on Van Rootselaar’s posts. Some employees interpreted Van Rootselaar’s writings as an indication of potential real-world violence, and urged leaders to alert Canadian law enforcement about her behavior, the people familiar with the matter said.

OpenAI leaders ultimately decided not to contact authorities.

A spokeswoman for OpenAI said the company banned Van Rootselaar’s account but determined that her activity didn’t meet the criteria for reporting to law enforcement, which would have required that it constituted a credible and imminent risk of serious physical harm to others.

Active shooter alert cancelled area map:
- Beaverlodge, Alberta
- Chetwynd, BC
- Dawson Creek, BC
- Mackenzie, BC
- Tumbler Ridge, BC

NEW: RCMP confirm 'multiple victims' in active shooter situation in #TumblerRidge, BC. Lockdown is over at Tumbler Ridge Elementary school (adjacent to secondary school) and parents are allowed to pick up children now.

Active shooter emergency alert area map includes:
- Beaverlodge, Alberta
- Chetwynd, BC
- Dawson Creek, BC
- Mackenzie, BC
- Tumbler Ridge, BC

Legend

BC Flood Advisory and Warning Notifications - Major
Basin

Red - Flood Warning
Orange - Flood Watch
Yellow - High Streamflow Advisory

Partial map of British Columbia and flood watch and high streamflow advisory areas

Photo of Mushmoshi Enoki Mushroom package

Map showing Calais, Maine and St. Stephen, New Brunswick

https://maps.app.goo.gl/43DWzXoWH2hvXJfq8?g_st=ic

Partial map of British Columbia

Highlighted in yellow:
Haida Gwaii
Vancouver Island
South Coast

Legend

BC Flood Advisory and Warning Notifications - Major

Red - Flood Warning
Orange - Flood Watch
Yellow - High Streamflow Advisory

Issue/Question:
Will the government discontinue the use of X/Twitter for official departmental communications?

Suggested Response:
• The government's Policy on Communications and Federal Identity does not prescribe nor prohibit any specific social media platform for departmental use. Departments are responsible for determining the most appropriate way to reach their audiences and communications objectives.
• Given the constant evolution of social media platforms, departments should also regularly review their use to verify they continue to serve as an effective communications vehicle.
If Pressed: Governments continued use of TikTok for advertising
• The Government uses advertising to inform Canadians about its programs, services, policies, and decisions.
• Departments are responsible for managing their advertising campaign budgets including the choice of media.
• Departments are permitted to advertise on TikTok if that is determined to be the best way to reach a particular audience.

According to James Turk, a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and director of the school's Centre for Free Expression, it's understandable why the federal government would want to meet Canadians on the platform they're using, but there's "no excuse" for continuing to use a website that condones non-consensual sexual deepfakes.

"When you look at what Grok is and what it has been programmed to do, it's almost inexcusable that the government would rely on X to report certain information," said Turk, a former X user, in an interview.

"I just don't know how a democratic government can justify continuing to use that kind of platform."

Turk added there's "multiple" communications vehicles at the government's disposal and, while X remains popular for civic discourse in Canada, it's likely that political observers would follow public officials to whichever platform they decide to use.

MAP:
Kispiox River Ice Jam Flooding - 26-0407 - Evacuation Alert - 23 January 2026 @1400h

Approximate Location of Earthquake
Partial map of British Columbia

Shown: Haida Gwaii
Masset
Daajing Giids

Kitimat
Port Hardy
Prince Rupert
Terrace

'Proud' member of B.C. Wildfire Service

James said Piper saved the earnings from B.C. Wildfire Service to pay for her trip to Australia.

"The B.C. Wildfire Service is saddened to learn about the death of one of our team members," Rob Schweitzer, the service's assistant deputy minister, told CBC News in a written statement.

"Our priority is the well-being of a grieving family and colleagues who are deeply affected, and we continue to ensure they have the support and resources they need."

After passing their bootcamp when she was 18, Piper worked for the B.C. Wildfire Service all of last summer, he said. James said the people his daughter worked with had a huge influence on her.

MAP:

Kispiox River Ice Jam Flooding - 26-0407 - Evacuation Order - 15 January 2026 @2100h

Map Of Outage Area

Legend

BC Flood Advisory and Warning Notifications - Major
Basin

Red - Flood Warning
Orange - Flood Watch
Yellow - High Streamflow Advisory

MAP showing B.C. and partial parts of neighbours:
- Alaska
- Alberta
- Washington State
- Yukon

Part of Pacific Ocean shown

Chilliwack River Valley
Evacuation Alert RESCINDED

This RESCINDED Alert ALSO includes all lands between Allison Pool and Chilliwack Lake near the Chilliwack River or within the Chilliwack River Floodplain, including the Paulsen Road Subdivision

Map of Nanaimo area

Map of Nanaimo River Flood Evacuation Area

MAP of Flood Evacuation Order Area

Map of outage area including:

- Canim Lake
- Eagle Creek
- Mahood Falls