UPDATE:
The BC Wildfire Service website now has a small fire reported in the Nazko area. No cause is given yet for this fire.
One Nazko resident shared this footage of smoke visible in the region to social media:
FULL STORY:
Lightning has sparked four new fires in the Cariboo region, however, none of the them are larger than two hectares, said Ryan Turcot, information officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service.
“We’ve had significant lightning in the last 24 hours, even in the last two hours,” Turcot said Wednesday afternoon. “There are four other wildfires in the region, but we have yet to determine the cause of them.”
A total of 60 firefighters and air tankers have been deployed to action the fires, including one south of Williams Lake near Dog Creek, he confirmed.
The BCWS interactive map shows a fire one kilometre south of Gibraltar Mine, one at Riske Creek, one near Desous Mountain, one near Buffalo Creek, and one at Smokey Lake Road.
Turcot said there was also a new one near Wells.
Currently the closest fires to Quesnel are small in size. One is about 1km south of Gibraltar Mine, near McLeese Lake, and the other is near Wells, B.C. Both are suspected to have been caused by lightning.
There is also a new fire reported west of Hixon, in the Prince George Fire Centre, at South Pelican A Road, also caused today by lightning.
Earlier Wednesday, Turcot told Black Press a wildfire near Tatla Lake, west of Williams Lake, that was approximately 50 hectares in size was fully contained.
Read More: Tatla Lake fire now fully contained: BC Wildfire Service
A severe thunderstorm watch remains in place for the Cariboo region, with a chance of showers and thundershowers in the forecast for Thursday.
Read More: Severe thunderstorm warning in effect for Cariboo
