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B.C. warns wildfires may cause more sudden closures along Interior highways

Province discouraging drivers from non-essential travel in fire-affected areas as it may clog evacuation routes
highway-1-south
Flames from the Shetland Creek wildfire approaching Highway 1 north of Spences Bridge. The highway is now closed from Spences Bridge to Ashcroft.

B.C. is warning drivers to prepare for the possibility of sudden road closures around wildfire-stricken communities and asking them not to congest evacuation routes if they don't have to be there.

Already as of Monday afternoon (July 22), blazes in the Interior have closed three sections of highway. 

Highway 26 at Wells is fully closed with no detour available. The community of about 218 people, located 80 km east of Quesnel, is under a full evacuation order thanks to the 3,162-hectare Antler Creek Wildfire. 

Further south, Highway 1 is closed for about a 50-kilometre stretch between Cache Creek and Spences Bridge, where the Shetland Creek Wildfire has forced widespread evacuation orders and alerts. The blaze is estimated at 19,942 hectares and has been burning since July 12. Detours are in place there. 

To the east, Highway 6 is closed for 12 kilometres south of Silverton. That's as a result of the 121-hectare Aylwin Creek Wildfire, which has placed at least 107 properties under evacuation order. Detours are also in place there. 

In total, those three blazes and several others have forced the evacuation of some 400 properties and put around 3,000 others on alert, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Change. 

READ ALSO: About 400 properties under evacuation order in B.C. as wildfires expand

To ensure residents of those communities can get out safely and evacuation routes aren't congested, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is asking drivers who don't have to be travelling through those areas to stay away. It also warned in an information bulletin Monday that more sudden highway closures are possible. 

Drivers are told to travel with a full tank of gas, food, water and emergency supplies. They are asked not to stop along highways if they don't have to, to ensure they aren't impeding firefighting efforts.

Up-to-date wildfire information can be found on the BC Wildfire Service website, while road closures can be found through DriveBC.

 

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