Effective at noon on Thursday, June 4, 2015, Category 2 open fires will once again be permitted in the Southeast Fire Centre due to a decreased risk of wildfires.

British Columbians are invited to comment on proposed amendments to the boundaries of about 400 existing old growth management areas (OGMAs) in the Quesnel Natural Resource District.

The Little Bobtail fire remains 100% contained and while crews have worked tirelessly to extinguish the entire perimeter, smoke will remain visible from this fire for the remainder of the summer.

Another 41 Wildfire Management Branch personnel, including two unit crews and one agency representative, are being deployed to Alberta to assist with that province’s wildfire situation.

Crews from the Wildfire Management Branch are responding to a new wildfire in the northwest corner of the province. It currently covers about 12 hectares near Kakiddi Creek, 25 kilometres west of Iskut.

The Wildfire Management Branch is sending 88 personnel and two fixed-wing aircraft to Alberta to aid in fire suppression efforts, Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson announced.

Since April 1, 2015, the Wildfire Management Branch has responded to 39 wildfires in the Southeast Fire Centre. Of those fires, 34 were human-caused and therefore preventable.