PlaceDossier / BC places / Wildfires

BC wildfires since 1990, season by season

Since 1990, 760 wildfires in BC have grown past 1,000 ha, and they hold 96% of all the ground inside the province's mapped fire perimeters. All five of the largest seasons came in 2017 or later. The largest, 2023, put 3,855,693 ha inside fire perimeters, counting ground inside two overlapping perimeters twice, so the province's own season figure may be lower.

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The largest fires since 1990

1. 1G90288, 2023May 11, 2023 · Northern Rockies768,915 ha
2. 2Donnie Creek (G80280), 2023May 11, 2023 · Peace River, Electoral Area B619,073 ha
3. 3Plateau (C10784), 2017July 7, 2017 · Cariboo, Electoral Area I; Cariboo, Electoral Area J520,885 ha
4. 4Nogah Creek (G90228), 2024June 28, 2023 · Northern Rockies508,473 ha
5. 5G90628, 2023June 4, 2023 · Northern Rockies477,723 ha
6. 6G90216, 2025May 1, 2023 · Northern Rockies280,461 ha
7. 7Ekwan Tower (G92498), 2023July 31, 2023 · Northern Rockies275,175 ha
8. 8Hanceville-Riske Creek (C50647), 2017July 7, 2017 · Cariboo, Electoral Area K239,340 ha
9. 9Elephant Hill (K20637), 2017July 6, 2017 · Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area E (Bonaparte Plateau); Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area I (Blue Sky Country)192,017 ha
10. 10Big Creek (G60666), 2023June 6, 2023 · Bulkley-Nechako, Electoral Area C; Stikine Region176,539 ha
11. 11G90207, 2023July 16, 2023 · Northern Rockies170,937 ha
12. 12Pear Lake (C40983), 2026July 17, 2026 · Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area E (Bonaparte Plateau); Squamish-Lillooet, Electoral Area B165,909 ha
13. 13R92132, 2018July 30, 2018 · Stikine Region156,775 ha
14. 14Pocket Knife Creek (G80352), 2025May 17, 2025 · Peace River, Electoral Area B149,505 ha
15. 15Chelaslie River (R10070), 2014July 8, 2014 · Bulkley-Nechako, Electoral Area E; Cariboo, Electoral Area I133,101 ha
16. 16R91947, 2018August 1, 2018 · Stikine Region; Kitimat-Stikine, Electoral Area F121,215 ha
17. 17R92033, 2018July 30, 2018 · Stikine Region; Northern Rockies100,779 ha
18. 18G90382, 2025May 22, 2025 · Northern Rockies94,057 ha
19. 19R11498, 2018July 27, 2018 · Bulkley-Nechako, Electoral Area D; Bulkley-Nechako, Electoral Area C92,412 ha
20. 20Sparks Lake (K21001), 2021June 28, 2021 · Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area J (Copper Desert Country); Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area O (Lower North Thompson)89,627 ha

Every season

How to read it

Every fire of 1,000 ha or more since 1990, as the BC Wildfire Service mapped it. A perimeter is the fire's outer edge: patches inside it may not have burned, and the hectares are the area inside it. A fire that burned through the winter keeps the year it started. Names are the province's; a fire without one goes by its fire number.

Past fire is history, not a forecast. The chance of fire on a lot today depends on what the record doesn't show: the forest and grass around it, the slope, what has been thinned or burned since, and how far it is from a fire hall.

Before you buy or build, ask the local government or fire department about the fire protection area, FireSmart work and the distance to a fire hall, and ask your insurer what they need.

Check one lot: has my property burned in a wildfire? · place by place: most land burned since 1996

Sources: BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Current, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Incident Locations – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Locations – Current, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on October 2, 2026. Outlines simplified and places measured by PlaceDossier.