Send this page to someone via email

UPDATE: The BC Wildfire Service said Saturday morning that the fire has been remapped to 300 hectares, down from a previous estimate of 1,000 hectares.

A large fire is burning in the Cariboo region, in what is British Columbia’s first major wildfire of 2016.

According to the BC Wildfire Service, the fire is 300 hectares in size and five kilometres northwest of Nazko, a small community 85 kilometres west of Quesnel.

The cause is currently under investigation and no structures are threatened, but crews and heavy equipment are on site fighting the blaze.

It comes three weeks after a series of small wildfires broke out in the Cariboo region.

Nearly 3,000 square kilometres of B.C. woodland burned during the 2015 fire season, costing the province almost $300 million.

Story continues below advertisement

– With files from The Canadian Press