Wildfire in Peace River, B.C., quadruples in size after evacuation order

A wildfire in northeastern British Columbia that prompted an evacuation order on Thursday has quadrupled in size.

The BC Wildfire Service is reporting that the blaze in the Peace River Regional District near the community of Kelly Lake is now about 46 square kilometres in size, up from 11 square kilometres Thursday afternoon.

The out-of-control fire was burning close to the Pembina Steeprock gas processing facility and Highway 52 E, also known as the Heritage Highway.

The Peace River Regional District issued the evacuation order for homes around Kelly Lake and areas north of Campbell Lake, west of Tent Lake, south of Twin Lakes, and east to the Alberta border.

Census data suggests Kelly Lake has a population of about 75 residents and the district says people should evacuate to Dawson Creek.

The fire is among about 60 burning in the province, 34 of which are classified as burning out of control.

The online dashboard of the BC Wildfire Service says the Kiskatinaw River fire was discovered on Wednesday and is believed to be human caused.

Of the active fires in B.C., the service says 18 per cent were human caused, 77 per cent were started by lightning, while five per cent have unknown causes.