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Wildfire triggers evacuation alert in northeast B.C.

July 20, 2012, Fort Nelson, B.C. – A wildfire in northeast B.C. has triggered an evacuation alert for a mostly-rural area.

The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality has issued the alert for people in the Suhm Creek region, about 120 kilometres northeast of Fort Nelson.

The alert covers a natural gas plant and another commercial facility, and while the regional municipality says there's no immediate danger from the Pesh fire right now, the evacuation alert has been issued as a precaution.

The fire was sparked by lighting last week and covers about 48 square kilometres, but because it's far away from any settlements, the Forest Service says the blaze is not being tackled by firefighters, although it is being monitored.

Meanwhile, the service says there have been more than 20 new fire starts in the Cariboo in the past two days.

Most of the them are small, with the largest covering just two square kilometres southwest of Williams Lake.