The 2014 fire season in northern British Columbia was extreme. Drought conditions coupled with lightning starts and severe weather events were ideal conditions for large wildfires and blow-up fire behaviour. That year, 368,767 ha burned—the annual average between 2003 and 2013 was 141,092 ha. Of the total area that burned in 2014, 211,117 ha burned within the Prince George Fire Centre and 143,312 ha burned within the Northwest Fire Centre.
The Copper River Fire (R50136) started on August 22, 2014, approximately 12 km east of Terrace, British Columbia within the Skeena Fire Zone of the Northwest Fire Centre (Figure 1). The Copper River Fire threatened and eventually burned through a BC Hydro right-of-way (ROW 5L63). This was a unique opportunity to record how fire behaviour, under extreme fire hazard conditions, changes as it approaches and moves through a linear corridor.
