A British Columbia wildfire grew Monday to five times its size the previous day. About 200 firefighters were battling the blaze three kilometres north of the town of Lillooet, where 3,000 people are on evacuation alert.
The fire, which grew to 1,500 hectares on Monday from 300 hectares on Sunday, is expected to continue spreading because of extreme heat, dropping humidity levels and dry weather conditions, B.C. Forest Service fire information officer Kevin Matuga told globeandmail.com
Lillooet resident Lisa La Rochelle was notified of the evacuation alert at 3 a.m. Monday when officials knocked at her door. They told her she would be warned if an evacuation was called, and asked her and her family to sign in at the recreation centre before they left town to tell officials where they were headed.
Ms. La Rochelle, a travel information counsellor, was at work on Monday but made plans to proceed to Clinton, north of Lillooet, with her two children and spouse to stay with family if the town was evacuated.
Although she could not see the fire from her workplace, it was very smoky and hot in town, she said.
The fire has affected the town's water supply and residents are advised to boil the water before using it.
There is a danger that this could be the first wildfire this season to spread to a residential area. The blaze shows no sign of abating and there is a slight chance of a thunderstorm which could trigger new fires, said Mr. Matuga.
Lightning sparked the Dickie Creek fire west of Kamloops on Friday afternoon.
The residents are warned that they should gather their personal belongings and important items in case they need to evacuate.
Last year, 30,000 B.C. residents were forced to flee their homes during one of the most disastrous forest-fire seasons, The Globe and Mail reported.
