Bonaparte Lake blaze prompts evacuation order

Posted by HalifaxHooligan on Jul 29, 2010 @ 8:19AM

BONEPARTE LAKE, BC - About 60 homes near Bonaparte Lake in B.C.'s interior were evacuated Wednesday after a wildfire that started in the afternoon quickly grew to 150 hectares.

Reports of the blaze, located at the southeast end of the lake, 22 kilometres northwest of Barriere, came in around 3:30 p.m., said fire information officer Michaela Swan.

Three air tankers doused the area with fire retardant, but it was too dangerous to send ground crews in to fight the blaze, which is less than half the size of 405-hectare Stanley Park.