Historic Barkerville site ‘at the whim of Mother Nature’ as nearby wildfire quadruples in size

The Antler Creek wildfire exploded to over 14,000 hectares on Tuesday, nearly four times the size of what it was estimated at a day earlier.

It’s one of four fires that the BC Wildfire Service has classified as a ‘Wildfire of Note’ as it burns around 80 kilometres east of Quesnel.

A closer landmark to the out-of-control fire, however, is the historic site of Barkerville, which was entirely evacuated earlier in the week.

An update from the Barkerville Historic Town & Park Facebook page around noon today said: “we are at the whim of Mother Nature.”

It added that a lot of people are asking when the site will reopen, but as long as the fire continues to burn close by and an evacuation order is in place, it’s not possible to do so.

“Right now, Barkerville is still standing thanks to the hard work of the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) and those who are supporting them,” the post noted. “We thank you for all your love. Keep holding hope for our beloved site.”

The BCWS deployed a dedicated Incident Management Team to the Groundhog Complex of wildfires, which includes Antler Creek, on Monday.

There are currently around 100 BCWS and local contract personnel responding to the cluster of wildfires, along with aviation resources, heavy equipment and structure protection teams.

Those structure protection teams have laid sprinklers all throughout Barkerville, a National Historic Site of Canada since 1924, as they make all efforts possible to protect the living history museum.