Little Bobtail Lake fire burning over 8,000 hectares

The Little Bobtail Lake fire has grown significantlyin the last dayburning nearly 8,000 hectares by Wednesday afternoon.

The wildfire roughly70 kilometres southwest of Prince George, B.C.has already forced the evacuation of80 people earlier this week, and close to 700 homes are in danger of being consumed if the fire spreads.

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• Get the latest updates on the fire's status

There are 120 firefighters, five helicopters and 10 pieces of heavy equipment responding to the incident today.

B.C.Wildfire Management Branch says the fire is showing unpredictable behaviour and is showing no signs of letting up.

MelissaKlassen, a spokeswoman forthe Prince George Fire Centre, saidthe amount ofwood in the region left dry and damaged by beetle killis also fuelling the fire.

She does not expect the conditions to improve over the next few days.

"What's challenging fire suppression efforts is this is the second year in a row that we've had higher than normal drought conditions in this region which is making this fire gain momentum as it burns through these very dense forest fuel," she said."We're going to see aggressive fire behaviour most likely continue on this fire."

Klassen saidairtankers have been dropping retardant to keep the fire from spreading, butthe fire is blowing right past those retardant lines.

"It'll be something that we are monitoring and observing over the next couple days and sort of rearranging our tactics as far as how to best approach this fire."

Klassen says high temperatures and low humidity are part of the problem, andEnvironment Canada predicts the hot, dry conditions will continue into next week.

Evacuation orders were issued for properties near Little Bobtail Lake and Naltesby Lake (Bobtail Lake) by the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako, and for Norman Lake by the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George.

An evacuation alert was also issued for other nearby areas on Monday morning, meaning residents should be prepared to leave at a moments notice if the fire spreads.

Google Maps: Little Bobtail Lake fire