New wildfire near Boston Bar, B.C., grows rapidly overnight

A new wildfire near Boston Bar, B.C., grew quickly overnight and is now adding to an already serious fire situation in the area. The Anderson Creek fire started beside Highway 1 south of Boston Bar and expanded from about 10 square kilometres on Tuesday night to 43.3 square kilometres by Wednesday morning. The B.C. Wildfire Service said the blaze moved rapidly upslope and continued to show aggressive fire behaviour through the night. Crews are facing hot, dry conditions, steep terrain, and changing winds, which are making suppression work more difficult. The new fire joins the Brunswick Creek and Ainslie Creek wildfires, which together had burned about 218 square kilometres by Wednesday. Evacuation orders remain in place around Boston Bar, and Highway 1 is closed in both directions between Anderson River Mainline and Jackass Summit. DriveBC says Highway 5 can be used as an alternate route.