PlaceDossier / BC places / Wildfires / 2003

BC wildfire G90239 · 2003 · 26,874 ha

Wildfire G90239, 2003

Wildfire G90239 started on July 26, 2003, caused by lightning. It was declared out on November 17, 2003. Its mapped perimeter covers 26,874 ha (269 km²): the 3rd-largest of 2003's 33 large fires, and the 71st-largest in BC since 1990. It reached Northern Rockies, burning 26,874 ha there, under 1% of the mountain resort municipality's land. The whole fire covered a small fraction of the land area of Northern Rockies.

A lot's report shows every mapped fire on it and within 2 km, with the lot drawn on the map.

Where it burned

Wildfire K10040, 1994: 2,783 haThe Pesh wildfire, 2012: 12,196 haWildfire G90258, 2015: 2,205 haWildfire G90323, 2015: 3,152 haWildfire G91534, 2017: 4,655 haWildfire G90288, 2023: 768,915 haNogah Creek wildfire, 2024: 508,473 ha19942012201520172023 N 010 km

This fireOther large fires since 1990

Outline simplified by us from the BC Wildfire Service's perimeter; not for locating a lot. Check a lot with the search above.

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; 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Outlines simplified and places measured by PlaceDossier.

Places it reached

PlaceBurned thereOf the place's land
Northern Rockies26,874 haunder 1%

Measured by us: the fire's mapped perimeter laid over Statistics Canada's boundaries of each municipality and electoral area. A place is listed when the fire burned any of a municipality, 25 ha or more of an electoral area, or a twentieth of the fire.

Burned before or since

2 later large fires burned into it again.

  1. 2012The Pesh wildfire12,196 ha in all353 ha shared
  2. 2023Wildfire G90288768,915 ha in all12,918 ha shared

Overlaps measured by us on the mapped perimeters, which are the outer edges: where two overlap, the ground may have burned once, twice or not at all.

The record

Fire numberG90239
Season2003
StartedJuly 26, 2003
Declared outNovember 17, 2003
CauseLightning
Area inside the perimeter26,874 ha (269 km²)
Location, as the province describes itMidwinter Lake

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.

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.

Larger in 2003: Wildfire K20272. Smaller: Wildfire K50628. Every large fire of 2003 · all seasons since 1990 · has my property burned?