Heat wave escalates forest fire concerns in B.C.
As the hot, dry weather continues to blanket much of B.C., raising the risk of new forest fires, crews are battling a major blaze northwest of Lillooet in the Bridge River Valley.
The blaze broke out on Friday, and continues to threaten homes and businesses between Tyaughton and Gun Lakes, a popular recreational area.
The lack of wind in the area has helped crews fight the fire, but it is only 15 per cent contained, according to Elise Riedlinger, a provincial fire information officer.
Bridge River Valley evacuation details
- An evacuation was ordered for the properties west of Pearson Pond along Gun Creek Road, from the intersection of Tyaughton Lake Road and Gun Lake Road to Lick Creek about 5.5 km to the west.
- There is also an evacuation alert for the surrounding areas of Gold Bridge, Tyaughton Lake, Pearson Pond and Gun Lake.
- There are road closures in the immediate vicinity of the wildfire.
- For more information, contact the Squamish Lillooet Regional District at 1-800-298-7753.
"The latest results from the Tyaughton Lake fire were positive. Yesterday it was still holding at 850 hectares — no significant growth — and our incident commander was quite happy with yesterday's results," Riedlinger said Wednesday morning.
The provincial Forest Service is also boosting the number of firefighters battling the blaze, which is one of more than a dozen significant fires listed as active in B.C.
"Yesterday we had 61 firefighters. We'll have those same firefighters today, as well as another 40 were heading there yesterday. We'll still have seven helicopters water bucketing and heavy machinery that is working on building a guard around the fire," she said.
About 25 homes in the area have been ordered evacuated and hundreds of residents remain on evacuation alert. Highway 40, the main route between Lillooet and Gold Bridge, is now open, but vehicles require an escort pilot to pass through.
Hot temperatures raise concerns
Forestry officials have blamed the hot, dry conditions and high winds for fanning the blaze, and are raising concerns about new fires in other areas. The fire danger rating is now listed as moderate or high across most of B.C. with some isolated spots in the southern areas of the province rated extreme.
"Today as of noon, we're putting a Category 1 and 2 restriction in place. We're allowing campfires, but basically we're restricting all backyard burning," said McPherson.
But the high temperatures have been welcomed by many British Columbians, who have being flocking the beaches and lakes after work all week as the unseasonably hot temperatures go well into the long June evenings.
On Tuesday, a record high for the date of 30 C was set at the Victoria International Airport, hotter than the previous record of 27 C set on June 2, 1978, according to Anne McCarthy of Environment Canada.
"Part of what's fun about this record — frequently by five o'clock in the afternoon when we take a synoptic observation…normally by then, we've hit the record — but in this case, it continued to warm up past that five o'clock, it was more into six and seven o'clock, when we finally hit our max," said McCarthy.
Temperature records were also set Tuesday in Squamish, White Rock and Pitt Meadows —and more records could fall Wednesday and Thursday across Metro Vancouver. But by Friday, they are forecast to drop in many areas of the province as rain moves in for the weekend.