PlaceDossier / BC places / Wildfires / 1998

BC wildfire season 1998

In 1998, the BC Wildfire Service recorded 2,665 wildfires, and their mapped perimeters cover 78,667 ha (787 km²): the 17th-largest season since 1990 by area. 13 fires grew past 1,000 ha and account for 75% of that area; the largest was wildfire R90054 at 12,315 ha. Large fires reached Salmon Arm and McBride.

Wildfire R90054, 1998: 12,315 haWildfire R90058, 1998: 11,295 haWildfire K60639, 1998: 9,863 haWildfire K30285, 1998: 6,328 haWildfire G60179, 1998: 4,074 haWildfire R90091, 1998: 3,737 haWildfire K20382, 1998: 3,526 haWildfire K10436, 1998: 1,919 haWildfire G30378, 1998: 1,452 haWildfire G30514, 1998: 1,381 haWildfire V10097, 1998: 1,245 haWildfire K70429, 1998: 1,143 haWildfire N30150, 1998: 1,036 ha

Fires of 1,000 ha or more in 1998Other years since 1990

The 13 large fires of 1998, largest first

  1. 1R90054July 3, 1998 · Kitimat-Stikine, Electoral Area D12,315 ha
  2. 2R90058July 3, 1998 · Kitimat-Stikine, Electoral Area D11,295 ha
  3. 3K60639August 1, 1998 · Okanagan-Similkameen, Electoral Area H9,863 ha
  4. 4K30285July 29, 1998 · Columbia-Shuswap, Electoral Area D; Salmon Arm6,328 ha
  5. 5G60179July 3, 1998 · Peace River, Electoral Area B; Kitimat-Stikine, Electoral Area D4,074 ha
  6. 6R90091July 1, 1998 · Stikine Region3,737 ha
  7. 7K20382July 29, 1998 · Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area J (Copper Desert Country)3,526 ha
  8. 8K10436August 5, 1998 · Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area B (Thompson Headwaters)1,919 ha
  9. 9G30378July 31, 1998 · Fraser-Fort George, Electoral Area H; McBride1,452 ha
  10. 10G30514September 3, 1998 · Fraser-Fort George, Electoral Area H1,381 ha
  11. 11V10097August 5, 1998 · Fraser Valley, Electoral Area A1,245 ha
  12. 12K70429August 5, 1998 · Squamish-Lillooet, Electoral Area B1,143 ha
  13. 13N30150July 31, 1998 · Columbia-Shuswap, Electoral Area B; Columbia-Shuswap, Electoral Area A1,036 ha

Under each fire: when it started and the places with the most of it. Bars compare each fire with the season's largest.

Wildfires recorded2,665
Area inside mapped perimeters78,667 ha (787 km²)
Fires of 1,000 ha or more13, covering 59,313 ha
Rank by area since 199017th of 36

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. The area adds up every perimeter of the season, small fires included; where two fires' perimeters overlap, the ground is counted twice, so totals can differ from the BC Wildfire Service's season summary.

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.

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.

← 1997 · All seasons since 1990 · 1999 →