PlaceDossier / BC places / Wildfires / 2018

BC wildfire VA1964 · 2018 · 44,817 ha

Wildfire VA1964, 2018

Wildfire VA1964 started on July 31, 2018, caused by lightning. It burned on through the winter and was declared out on January 1, 2019. Its mapped perimeter covers 44,817 ha (448 km²): the 10th-largest of 2018's 84 large fires, and the 46th-largest in BC since 1990. All of it was in Cariboo, Electoral Area J. The nearest municipality, Burns Lake, is roughly 164 km away; the fire covered about 60 times the land area of it.

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 C50149, 2004: 2,409 haWildfire C10466, 2006: 1,238 haDean wildfire, 2006: 11,119 haHeckman Pass Area wildfire, 2009: 2,826 haTweedsmuir Park wildfire, 2010: 4,274 haHighway 20 and Tweedsmuir Park wildfire, 2010: 3,086 haWildfire C50340, 2010: 1,024 haChelaslie River wildfire, 2014: 133,101 haWildfire R12315, 2018: 87,036 haTweedsmuir Complex wildfire, 2018: 79,394 haWildfire C51355, 2021: 1,833 haAnahim Peak wildfire, 2023: 3,347 haGatcho Lake wildfire, 2023: 21,927 haOppy Lake wildfire, 2023: 40,580 haCrag Creek wildfire, 2023: 3,830 haYoung Creek wildfire, 2023: 3,053 haBeef Trail Creek wildfire, 2025: 13,574 haOctopus Lake wildfire, 2025: 5,471 ha20042010201020182025 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
Cariboo, Electoral Area J44,817 ha2%

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

1 later large fire burned into it again.

  1. 2023Gatcho Lake wildfire21,927 ha in all304 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 numberVA1964
Season2018
StartedJuly 31, 2018
Declared outJanuary 1, 2019
CauseLightning
Area inside the perimeter44,817 ha (448 km²)
Location, as the province describes itDean River

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 2018: Wildfire R11796. Smaller: Wildfire G82215. Every large fire of 2018 · all seasons since 1990 · has my property burned?