Evacuation order issued for southwest Tagish Lake

The B.C. Wildfire Service has issued an evacuation order for an area southwest of Tagish Lake where a fire has been burning since last month.

The evacuation order affects the area along the southwest shore of Tagish Lake from Buchan Creek to just beyond Ben-My-Chree. The B.C. Wildfire Service says there are three cabins in that area.

The evacuation order does not affect the town of Atlin, B.C.

The wild fire was caused by lightning in early July and was 130 hectares in size. The B.C. Wildfire Service says it grew earlier this month due to wind event and it now covers about 1400 hectares and "the fire spotting within 300 metres of the nearest structure."

The service says fire crews have installed sprinklers to protect the properties and set up remote cameras to monitor them.

Seventeen firefighters, three helicopters and an air tanker are fighting the fire.