Wildfire-related highway closure disrupting B.C. trucking industry

The Mine Creek wildfire that forced the closure of the Coquihalla Highway this week is continuing to spread – and is now burning on both sides of the highway.

A massive, fast-moving wildfire between Hope and Merritt has forced evacuation alerts, one evacuation order, and the shutdown of a critical stretch of the Coquihalla Highway — a closure that’s already disrupting the province’s trucking industry.

Flames close key highway

The Mine Creek wildfire, discovered Monday, has already grown to at least 1,900 hectares. Dramatic video captured by drivers shows flames burning dangerously close to the road.

“This is nuts,” one driver is heard saying in footage that looks like a scene from a movie.

Adam Bruno, who also shot video of the fire, told CTV News you could feel the intense heat passing by.

The videos were taken just before the Coquihalla closure, which shut the route down in both directions Wednesday afternoon between Hope and Merritt. As of this publication, Thursday evening, the highway remains closed.

Related: Full coverage of B.C.’s 2025 wildfire season

The B.C. Wildfire Service says strong winds, hot weather, and steep, rocky terrain are making it difficult for crews to get the upper hand.

“By the time this fire was reported and we were able to get air resources to it, which was upon discovery, it had already grown to the point where an initial attack and a helicopter resource would not be able to address it fully,” said Taylor Stewart Shantz, an information officer with the Kamloops Fire Centre.

Safety limits firefighting response

Shantz said firefighters have been forced to take a modified approach.

“Public and first responders’ safety is our number one priority in the B.C. Wildfire Service, and so decisions were made to conduct a modified response on this fire,” Shantz explained.

“The head of the fire is burning with enough aggressive fire behavior that it is not safe to attack it directly.”

Trucking industry hit hard

For the trucking industry, the Coquihalla shutdown is already causing major disruptions.

“We had trucks going through that fire, and it’s a scary thing for our drivers in the public to navigate,” said Steve Gayfer with Arrow Transportation Systems Inc.

Gayfer says about 30 of his company’s trucks have been directly affected, and estimates hundreds more from other companies are also impacted.

“We do have alternate routes at times we can use, but depending on the configuration, it may not be legal to travel on Highway 1,” he explained. “So, it basically puts a standstill to a lot of the industry.”

Evacuations and detours

Dozens of properties are under evacuation alert, and one home has been ordered to evacuate. Drivers are being advised to detour using Highway 1 or 3.

Gayfer believes B.C. needs to take a more proactive approach to forest management to prevent catastrophic wildfires like this one.

“It’s near impossible to put them out at this point,” he said. “So we have to be more proactive in my mind, from a policy perspective.”

Fire outlook

Crews are hoping for conditions to shift in their favour.

“The hope is that we see cooler temperatures overnight and a little bit of increased humidity there, and we’re able to action the fire in the morning while we see that decreased fire behavior,” Shantz said. “And then assess in the afternoon again as it picks up and we see that rank 4 or 5 fire behavior potentially return.”

The wildfire is believed to have been sparked by lightning.