Peace River Regional District in B.C. northeast issues new evacuation order

The BC Wildfire Service says the Pocket Knife Creek wildfire in the province's northeast has merged with another blaze, increasing its size "substantially."

It says the fire is now more than 610 square kilometres in size and is considered an out-of-control wildfire of note.

The Peace River Regional District says the fire poses an "immediate danger to life safety" and issued an evacuation order Sunday for the area approximately nine kilometres west of the Buckinghorse River, and around the Redfern Trail down toward Redfern Lake.

The regional district issued earlier evacuation orders due to the Kiskatinaw River wildfire, another wildfire of note near the B. C-Alberta border that's about 130 square kilometres in size.

The service says the third wildfire of note is the Summit Lake wildfire, and is also expected to keep growing due to winds and warm weather, and is now about 106 square kilometres.

The BC Wildfire Service told a news conference last Friday it was expecting "extreme fire behaviour" over the weekend, warning flames from the Kiskatinaw River wildfire could be pushed by strong winds could closer to the small community of Kelly Lake, about 80 kilometres south of Dawson Creek.