Wildfire forces residents out in central B.C.

A wildfire in B.C.'s Cariboo region has forced 31 people to flee their homes and put 100 others on evacuation alert.

A state of emergency was declared for the Xgat'tem, or Canoe Creek First Nation, on Friday evening.

Thirty-one people living on Dog Creek Reserve No. 2 were ordered out of their homes. About 100 residents of Dog Creek Reserve No. 1 were put on evacuation alert, meaning they must be ready to leave their homes at a moment's notice.

Officials said the aggressive wildfire, about 40 kilometres south of Williams Lake, was discovered on Wednesday and has scorched an estimated 18 square kilometres.

Officials said fire crews were on site Friday night, working along with several pieces of heavy machinery to create a fireguard on the southern flank of the fire. Helicopters were dropping water on the fire’s perimeter.

In addition, structural protection units were put in place on buildings immediately threatened.

Hundreds of new wildfires

Officials said more than 240 wildfires have broken out in B.C. in the past 48 hours.

Provincial Fire Information Officer Kim Steinbart said most of the fires were sparked in the central Interior and most were caused by lightning.

She said the forecast across much of the areas covered by the Cariboo and Kamloops fire centres calls for warm, dry conditions with thundershowers or dry lightning for the next several days.

Evacuation orders remained in place for two other blazes on Friday — one around a portion of Bonaparte Lake north of Kamloops and the other at the Meldrum Creek fire near Williams Lake.

Several evacuation alerts are also posted throughout the province.