Residents of district in northeastern B.C. given evacuation order as wildfire grows

An evacuation order has been issued for the residents of a small town in northeastern B.C. after a wildfire burning nearby for the past 11 days grew to 174 square kilometres.

Residents of the entire District of Hudson's Hope, more than 1,000 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, are being asked to immediately leave their homes and the area and travel to Fort St. John via Highway29, about an hour's drive away.

The evacuation order was issued by the district and thePeace River Regional District. All properties affected by the evacuation order are listed here.

Hudson's Hope has about 1,000 residents.

The Battleship Mountain wildfire was discovered on Aug. 30 and has since grown to 174 square kilometres in size. The B.C. Wildfire Service said the fire is currently classified as burning out of control.

"Temperatures are forecasted to increase into the weekend and there is no measurable amount of precipitation expected," the service said on its website about the fire. "Increased fire behaviour can be expected as temperatures increase."

On Friday, the service said nearly 200 fires are currently burning in B.C., with 77 reportedin the last week, and the wildfire service says the majority havebeen caused by lightning.