PlaceDossier / BC places / Wildfires / 2017

BC wildfire K20637 · 2017 · 192,017 ha

Elephant Hill wildfire, 2017

The Elephant Hill wildfire started on July 6, 2017, caused by people. Its mapped perimeter covers 192,017 ha (1,920 km²): the 3rd-largest of 2017's 43 large fires, and the 9th-largest in BC since 1990. It reached Cache Creek, burning 432 ha there, 42% of the village's land, and Ashcroft and Clinton. The whole fire covered about 185 times the land area of Cache Creek.

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 K70044, 1994: 1,231 haWildfire K20382, 1998: 3,526 haWildfire K70429, 1998: 1,143 haWildfire C40305, 2003: 1,113 haWildfire K20624, 2003: 5,221 haTown Creek wildfire, 2004: 1,538 haKelly Creek wildfire, 2009: 20,610 haMount McLean wildfire, 2009: 3,652 haSpatsum Creek wildfire, 2013: 1,420 haWild Goose Lake wildfire, 2018: 6,841 haWildfire K20351, 2018: 2,465 haWildfire C41097, 2021: 7,453 haWildfire C41602, 2021: 73,863 haSparks Lake wildfire, 2021: 89,627 haTremont Creek wildfire, 2021: 62,524 haMckay Creek wildfire, 2021: 44,964 haShetland Creek wildfire, 2024: 27,972 haPear Lake wildfire, 2026: 165,909 haFrench Bar Creek wildfire, 2026: 61,051 ha1994199820032009201820182021202120212026AshcroftCache CreekClinton N 020 km

This fireOther large fires since 1990

Outline simplified by us from the BC Wildfire Service's perimeter; its largest parts are shown; 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
Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area E (Bonaparte Plateau)146,866 ha22%
Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area I (Blue Sky Country)28,280 ha5%
Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area J (Copper Desert Country)7,839 ha2%
Cariboo, Electoral Area L6,735 ha5%
Cache Creek432 ha42%
Ashcroft68 ha1%
Clinton27 ha3%

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. 2021Sparks Lake wildfire89,627 ha in all179 ha shared
  2. 2026Pear Lake wildfire165,909 ha in all13,719 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 numberK20637
Season2017
StartedJuly 6, 2017
Declared outnot recorded
CausePeople
Area inside the perimeter192,017 ha (1,920 km²)

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 2017: Hanceville-Riske Creek wildfire. Smaller: White River wildfire. Every large fire of 2017 · all seasons since 1990 · has my property burned?