PlaceDossier / BC places / Wildfires / 2023

BC wildfire G41307 · 2023 · 44,643 ha

Tatuk Lake wildfire, 2023

The Tatuk Lake wildfire started on July 7, 2023, caused by lightning. It burned on through the winter and was declared out on August 30, 2024. Its mapped perimeter covers 44,643 ha (446 km²): the 13th-largest of 2023's 119 large fires, and the 47th-largest in BC since 1990. All of it was in Bulkley-Nechako, Electoral Area F. The nearest municipality, Vanderhoof, is roughly 50 km away; the fire covered about 8 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 G40189, 2004: 1,850 haWildfire G40100, 2005: 10,018 haWildfire C10299, 2010: 2,273 haBig Bend Creek wildfire, 2017: 6,722 haWildfire G10696, 2018: 2,245 haWildfire G41607, 2018: 20,760 haWildfire G11126, 2021: 1,475 haCutoff Creek wildfire, 2021: 33,073 haGrizzly Lake wildfire, 2021: 4,892 haTaigai Lake wildfire, 2023: 2,264 haGreer Creek wildfire, 2023: 4,768 haWildfire G41560, 2023: 1,144 haSwede Creek wildfire, 2026: 1,775 haBourgeois Creek wildfire, 2026: 1,416 ha2004200520182021202320232026 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
Bulkley-Nechako, Electoral Area F44,439 ha8%
Cariboo, Electoral Area I203 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 earlier large fires had burned part of this ground.

  1. 2004Wildfire G401891,850 ha in all1,838 ha shared
  2. 2005Wildfire G4010010,018 ha in all3,969 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 numberG41307
Season2023
StartedJuly 7, 2023
Declared outAugust 30, 2024
CauseLightning
Area inside the perimeter44,643 ha (446 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 2023: Bush Creek East wildfire. Smaller: Wildfire G90273. Every large fire of 2023 · all seasons since 1990 · has my property burned?