PlaceDossier / BC places / Wildfires / 2023
BC wildfire K71705 · 2023 · 5,022 ha
Ponderosa Creek wildfire, 2023
The Ponderosa Creek wildfire started on July 12, 2023, caused by lightning. It was declared out on October 20, 2023. Its mapped perimeter covers 5,022 ha: the 60th-largest of 2023's 119 large fires, and the 307th-largest in BC since 1990. All of it was in Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area I (Blue Sky Country). The nearest municipality, Lytton, is roughly 15 km away; the fire covered about 7 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
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
| Place | Burned there | Of the place's land |
|---|---|---|
| Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area I (Blue Sky Country) | 5,022 ha | under 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
1 earlier large fire had burned part of this ground.
- 2009Wildfire K711107,835 ha in all78 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 number | K71705 |
|---|---|
| Season | 2023 |
| Started | July 12, 2023 |
| Declared out | October 20, 2023 |
| Cause | Lightning |
| Area inside the perimeter | 5,022 ha |
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: Ocock Lake wildfire. Smaller: Davidson Creek wildfire. Every large fire of 2023 · all seasons since 1990 · has my property burned?