What happens after the Donnie Creek wildfire, now larger than P.E.I., stops burning?

B.C.'s largest wildfire on record now eclipses the entire area of Prince Edward Island, and experts say after it's done burning, there could be a commercial rush for burnt timber that could further change the landscape for the worse.

The Donnie Creek wildfire is burning over 5,715 square kilometres as of July 2, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service.

Mike Flannigan, professor of wildland fire at Thompson Rivers University, said the amount of land burned so far is astronomical.

The Donnie Creek wildfire has charred enough land to count as the fifth-worst fire season of all time in the province all on its own, according to the professor.

"It will continue to burn for weeks and probably until the end of the fire season. It may actually burn through winter, smouldering in deeper organic layers, and then pop up," he told CBC News.

"It's an enormous chunk and you can see it from space, how large this area is."

The giant blaze, which started well before traditional wildfire season usually begins in B.C., is leading to concerns for the unique trees that make up the boreal forest in the province's northeast, as well as the animals whose habitats might be irrevocably changed.

Flannigan said the historic wildfire season would not have been possible if not for human-caused climate change, as a warmer world causes more lightning strikes — which lead to around half of all fires, and ones that burn for longer.

"The warmer it gets, the more efficient the atmosphere is at sucking the moisture of the fuels ... on the forest floor," he said.

"Unless we see more rain to compensate for this drying effect … it's easier for a fire to start, easier for a fire to spread, and it means more fuel is available to burn."

Flannigan said that, for fires as large as Donnie Creek, it's best to let it burn out and let "Mother Nature do her thing."

Kevin Smith, manager of the boreal program at environmental non-profit Ducks Unlimited, said forests have historically evolved alongside wildfires — but gigantic fires like Donnie Creek are changing the environment around them.

"Those shifts in patterns are not only increasing the amount of carbon emitted but also changing the vegetation that's coming back," he said. "Because the organic part of the soils in these catastrophic higher intensity fires, they're burning off.