The wildfire raging near Lilloeet, B.C., nearly doubled in size overnight Friday, reaching an estimated 3,500 hectares.
Fire Information Officer Elise Riedlinger says the fire's expansion is the result of high winds in the region.
"The increase in size is from the very aggressive fires we saw on Friday, due to very high winds coming in," she said.
The Tyaughton Lake area and Gun Creek Road were evacuated last week, and an evacuation order has now been sent to Mud Creek.
Evacuation alerts have been issued for Marshal Lake, Liza Lake and Carol Lake, joining existing alerts in Gun Lake, Gold Bridge and Bralorne.
The fire is believed to be human-caused, but investigations are still being conducted.
According to Riedlinger, there are currently 165 firefighters, 11 helicopters and 12 pieces of heavy machinery, including excavators, struggling against the wildfire.
But despite the hard work of firefighters and support staff, the blaze is currently only 15 per cent contained.
A province on high alert
The forest fire risk in Metro Vancouver parks, including Stanley and Pacific Spirit Parks, was raised to high Wednesday. The extreme heat is drying out the forest underbrush -- making it dry much earlier than normal.
The fire department is asking people to not smoke in parks because even the smallest spark could set a huge fire.
Dry weather has seen the number of fires in the province jump dramatically -- from 280 in 2008 to 368 this year -- and Fire Information Officer Kim Steinbart says most of them are caused by people.
A 24-hour public information line is available at 1-866-417-4132, and road closure information is availble at 1-800-550-4997.
