British Columbia is the westernmost province in Canada, and is prone to wildfires. Wildfires are extremely common during summer, and 2023 had the worst wildfire season on record with 2,840,104 of hectares burned at a cost of $1,094.8 million.

Inclusion criteria and organization Only fires with at least 10,000 hectares burned are allowed, unless deaths involved. The wildfires are organized by date. If there are multiple wildfires on a certain date, the larger wildfire goes on top.

1908 +Fire nameHectares burnedDate discoveredCommentsLinkFernie fire64,00022 deaths, town of Fernie completely destroyed.

1938 +Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLinkBloedel fire75,000SaywardJuly 5 19380 deaths, the fire burned for 30 days on the north of Vancouver Island directly outside the village of Sayward. The effort to extinguish the fire was the largest in British Columbia's history up to that point. It was British Columbia's largest recorded wildfire until it was surpassed in size by the Chelaslie River fire in 2014.

2003 +Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLinkMidwinter Lake fire32,000Prince GeorgeChilko Lake/Chilko River fire29,202CaribooMcLure fire26,420KamloopsOkanagan Mountain Park fire25,600KelownaLamb Creek fire11,882SoutheastMcGillvray fire10,979 Kamloops

2004 +Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLinkCoal River fire32,000Prince GeorgeSwan Lake fire29,962NorthwestLonesome Lake fire22,745CaribooHistoric "Crusoe of Lonesome Lake" homestead lost. McBride River fire14,000NorthwestKotcho Lake fire13,325Prince GeorgeKenney fire10,300Prince George

2005 +Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLink15 km East of Tatuk Lake fire12,371Prince George

2006 +Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLinkMt Hamelin fire12,051Prince GeorgeNarcosli Ecological Reserve fire11,500CaribooTezla Lake fire10,961CaribooDall Lake fire10,600Prince George

2009 +Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLinkLava Canyon fire66,719CaribooJunction of Smith and Liard Rivers fire23,182Prince GeorgeKelly Creek fire20,925Cariboo

2010 +Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLinkNW of Meldrum Creek Complex47,293CaribooBinta Lake fire40,000NorthwestPelican Lake Complex35,506CaribooOld Faddy fire35,284NorthwestBull Canyon Complex35,000CaribooSheslay River fire28,000NorthwestNW of Tsacha Lake fire13,087Prince George

2011 +Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLinkBlue River fire11,000Northwest

2012 +Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLinkWhite Spruce Creek fire24,852Prince GeorgeSuhm Creek fire12,196Prince George

2014 +Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredCommentsLinkChelaslie River fire133,098NorthwestTenakihi-Mesilinka Complex fire64,576Prince GeorgeForres Mountain fire29,672Prince GeorgeRed Deer Creek fire33,547Prince GeorgeMount McAllister fire26,273Prince GeorgeEuchiniko Lakes fire21,518Prince George

2015 +Fire nameHectares burnedFire CentreDate discoveredLinkLittle Bobtail Lake fire25,569Prince GeorgeMay 8Elaho fire12,523Coastal

2016 +Fire nameHectares burnedDate discoveredLinkBeatton Airport Road fire15,739April 18Siphon Creek Road / Doig Reserve fire62,700April 18

2017

+Fire nameHectares burnedDate discoveredLinkElephant Hill fire191,865July 6The Plateau fire545,151July 7Hanceville Riske Creek fire241,160July 7Kleena Kleene25,558July 7White Lake fire13,211July 7Wildwood fire12,723July 7Kluskoil Lake 1 fire21,870July 10Gustafsen Lake fire5,700July 6

2018

+Fire nameHectares burnedDate discoveredLinkTommy Lakes fire21,795May 22Snowy Mountain fire17,068July 17Shovel Lake fire92,255 July 27Chutanli Lake fire20,412July 30North of Tezzeron Lake fire10,602July 30Nadina Lake fire86,766 July 31Verdun Mountain fire34,586 July 31Alkali Lake fire118,318August 1Shag Creek fire12,322August 1Island Lake fire 20,468August 1North Baezaeko fire 11,508August 1Lutz Creek fire76,100August 4W Babine River fire10,800August 5Hugh Allen Creek fire10,000August 6Tweedsmuir Complex301,549August 8Cool Creek fire13,626August 15

2021

+Fire nameHectares burnedDate discoveredLinkLytton wildfire83,740June 30

2022 +Fire nameHectares burnedDate discoveredLinkR90436 (Unnamed)12,330July 2Heather Lake fire14,970August 21Battleship Mountain fire31,755August 30

2026 +Fire nameHectares burnedDate discoveredLinkBig Bar Complex186,738July 17Bradley Creek fire2,852July 31Bald Range fire22,693August 7

See also

List of fires in Canada 2017 British Columbia wildfires 2018 British Columbia wildfires List of wildfires

References