Residents northwest of Pemberton, B.C., ordered to leave as glacial lake threatens to burst

People living in a small community northwest of Pemberton, B.C., have been ordered to leave immediately due to the imminent risk of flooding from a nearby glacial lake.

The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District issued the evacuation order Thursday for two dozen properties in the Poole Creek and Gates Lake area of Birken, roughly 30 kilometres northwest of Pemberton.

RCMP will be expediting the evacuation, the regional district said.

Place Glacier has been melting into a lake beside it, and the regional district said once it reached 30 metres deep, an order would be sent.

Sensors and cameras set up at the glacier have been monitoring lake levels.

The two dozen properties had been on evacuation alert since June 7, when the lake reached the same depth (24 metres) that it did when an outburst event happened last year.

The lake also saw an outburst in 2024. During that flooding event, researchers estimate 100,000 cubic metres of water and debris came hurling down the mountain and split off towards Gates Lake and Poole Creek.

Those two outburst happened on June 19, 2025, and July 21, 2024.

Place Glacier is expected to melt into the lake beside it until the glacier recedes.

Further information will be posted by the regional district.