We’re well into October, but BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) crews are still hard at work.

There are currently 39 personnel with air support responding to the Mount Wartenbe wildfire in northeastern British Columbia, which sparked on Sunday and grew rapidly.

By Tuesday morning, it was up to 700 hectares and it grew to 1,246 hectares by Wednesday night.

Fortunately, better weather conditions have helped firefighters get a handle on the blaze since then and the latest size estimate from the BCWS remains at 1,246.

Photo Credit: BCWSFile Photo

On Thursday, the fire showed rank one and two behaviour, with most of the activity coming in the north end of the fire.

A guard on the north end is 75% complete, while a guard on the southeastern side of the fire is 50% finished.

The BCWS says progress has been slow given the steep, difficult terrain where the fire is burning, but things are still trending in a positive direction.

“Crews are moving to the south side of the fire to establish a hose line and go with direct attack along this flank of the fire,” the BCWs explained, noting that the fire is contained to the west with use of the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

To the east, the fire has not crossed a ravine and crews continue to use helicopter bucket support to prevent that from happening.

An evacuation alert issued by the Peace River Regional District on Monday for two dozen properties remains in effect for now.