PlaceDossier / BC places / Wildfires / 2024

BC wildfire R11201 · 2024 · 33,446 ha

Michel Creek wildfire, 2024

The Michel Creek wildfire started on July 19, 2024, caused by lightning. It was declared out on November 29, 2024. Its mapped perimeter covers 33,446 ha (334 km²): the 3rd-largest of 2024's 50 large fires, and the 60th-largest in BC since 1990. All of it was in Bulkley-Nechako, Electoral Area E. The nearest municipality, Burns Lake, is roughly 94 km away; the fire covered about 45 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 R10165, 2009: 1,060 haBinta Lake wildfire, 2010: 39,073 haWildfire R10221, 2010: 7,049 haEntiako Lake wildfire, 2012: 7,459 haWildfire R10252, 2013: 3,354 haChelaslie River wildfire, 2014: 133,101 haWildfire R11796, 2018: 50,270 haWildfire R12068, 2018: 53,287 haWildfire R12270, 2018: 9,253 haWildfire R12315, 2018: 87,036 haTweedsmuir Complex wildfire, 2018: 79,394 haChief Louis Lake wildfire, 2021: 20,886 haWildfire R11282, 2023: 24,811 haWildfire R11388, 2023: 3,020 haOppy Lake wildfire, 2023: 40,580 haWildfire R11239, 2024: 55,287 ha200920132014202120232023 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 E33,446 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

5 earlier large fires had burned part of this ground.

  1. 2014Chelaslie River wildfire133,101 ha in all18,743 ha shared
  2. 2018Wildfire R1206853,287 ha in all935 ha shared
  3. 2018Wildfire R1231587,036 ha in all204 ha shared
  4. 2021Chief Louis Lake wildfire20,886 ha in all1,799 ha shared
  5. 2023Wildfire R113883,020 ha in all81 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 numberR11201
Season2024
StartedJuly 19, 2024
Declared outNovember 29, 2024
CauseLightning
Area inside the perimeter33,446 ha (334 km²)
Location, as the province describes itS of Michel Creek 1

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 2024: Wildfire R11239. Smaller: Shetland Creek wildfire. Every large fire of 2024 · all seasons since 1990 · has my property burned?