Wildfires near Fort St. John, Prince George prompt evacuations

The Peace River Regional District in northern B.C. has declared a state of emergencydue to several forest fires in the area.

The district said about48 wildfires were burning in the region Monday night.

Evacuation orders and evacuation alertshavebeen issued for parts of the Baldonnel communitynear Fort St. John, as well as at Charlie Lake.

The Blueberry First Nation reserve north of Fort St. John was alsoevacuated and residents were sent to Taylor, where an emergency reception centre has been established.

The City of Fort St. John said the fire destroyed three structures in the area.

DriveBCreportedHighway 29 has been closed in both directions from Bear Flats to Halfway River Bridge because of a fire.

Thefire danger ishigh for Fort St. John (and extreme for parts of Alberta) because of the dry weather of late, said the B.C. Wildfire Service.The city wasunder a special weather statement for strong wind gustsMonday night that couldhelp fan and spread the flames.

The fire hadBaldonnelresidents scrambling earlier on Monday afternoon.

"Coming home from town, there was a lot of smoke," said Christy Jordan-Fenton, adding there was almost no visibility as she drove away.

"Igot through just before they closed that roadand are evacuating those farms."

Jordan-Fenton saidshe wasconcerned about the fire spreading toa nearbystorage facility for oil and gas tanks, which she said is about three to four kilometres away from the fire.

She saidit was28 C and windy in the area,and there wasa lot of dry crop land nearby.

Resident Garth Fentonsaidhe wastrying to get home but was stopped at a road block.He saidthe wind appearedto be blowing away from the tank farm for the time being.

Fentonsaidthere wasa lot of smoke in the area, and neighbours were trying to help each other out.

Prince George residents forced to flee

Residents of an upscale neighbourhood in Prince Georgereturnedhome Monday night after a wildfire forced them to flee.

Police said 10 to 12 homes in theValleyviewareawere evacuated Monday afternoon when the fire started at about 4:30 p.m. PT, but the flames were under control later in the evening.

Cpl. CraigDouglasswith Prince GeorgeRCMPsaid firefighters would remain in the area throughout the night.

The fire caught many in the neighbourhood by surprise.

"I called my wife to let her know I'm coming home, and she said, 'I've got the kid, I've got the dog, I've got the hard drive and there's a fire in our yard, so we're out of here,'"said resident MichaelJansa.

Officers toldJansaand his family they should be allowed back into their home tonight after they make sure the wind doesn't pick up and spark it again.

"We're just hoping there's not too much smoke damage so we can stay in the house," he said.

SharlaOlsen was home when she saw the flames quickly advancing towards her and her children.

"Flamesright to the tops of the pine trees inthe backyard and they were coming pretty fast through the neighbour's yard," she said. "So we grabbed the kids and drove away."

"We had not a lot of time to leave, but enough."

Fires across northern B.C.

RCMPhave been warning peopleaboutseveral wildfires burning around and southeast of Fort St. John.

"Police want to caution the public of heavy smoke and fires in a number of areas," said Dawson Creek Sgt. Mike Richard.

"With the high winds the area is currentlyexperiencing, be extremely cautious in these areas as these fires areor can be fast moving."

Richard said one of the wildfiresin the East Pine areaof Highway 97 has jumped the highway heading north, anda large forest fire east of Kelly Lake is getting closer to the Alberta border.

He said there are also two grass fires west of Dawson Creek.

Meanwhile, onthe northwest side of the province,the B.C. Wildfire Services says it responded to six new wildfires near Burns Lakeon Monday.

Withfiles from Betsy Trumpenerand The Canadian Press