Today
is forecasted to be mainly sunny skies with cooler temperatures. The fire
danger rating in the Quesnel Zone is Moderate to High with pockets of
Low. The Chilcotin, Central, and 100 Mile Zones remain High to Extreme. The BC Wildfire Service website displays the current fire
danger rating for the province here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status/wildfire-situation/fire-danger
At this time, the BC Wildfire
Service has not recommended backcountry closures. All trails and backroads that
are not affected by Area Restriction Orders, Evacuation Orders, or are
otherwise under municipal jurisdiction or BC Parks jurisdiction, remain open
for public use. There are currently several provincial parks affected by
wildfires; check the BC
Parks website for updates on
alerts and closures. Members of the public must remain vigilant and act
responsibly when recreating in the backcountry. Know before you go: check the
local fire danger rating, download the BC Wildfire Service app and stay up to
date with location-specific wildfire information.
Wildfires of Note
There
are nine Wildfires of Note within the Cariboo Fire Centre. Three fires are
being managed by an Incident Management Team (Succour Lake, Flat Lake, and S of
Canim Lake). Below is a summary for your information, and you can also find
these details on the Wildfire of Note page, which is updated twice daily. Before this summary is sent
out, the Wildfire of Note pages will be updated.
Purdy Lake
The wildfire is estimated to be 8,100
hectares in size. There has been no growth on the fire the past few days. Crews
are patrolling and extinguishing hot spots along the southern flank of the
fire. There is a machine guard that is around most of the fire that will be
further re-enforced today. Firefighters have established a 100-foot blackline
on the northern flank.
An Evacuation Alert has been issued
by the Cariboo Regional District has been rescinded.
McKinley Lake
The McKinley Lake wildfire is 1,834 hectares in size.
Minimal fire activity was displayed on this incident yesterday. The focus today
will be to tightline hose systems on the northeastern flank and ground crews
can now safely work directly on the fire perimeter on the eastern flank to
conduct mop up operations. Aerial scans have allowed firefighters to target hot
spots along the fire perimeter. An ignition specialist determined there are no
opportunities for burn operations.
An Evacuation Alert issued by the Cariboo Regional
District for Crooked Lake remains in effect.
Chasm
The
Chasm wildfire is 454 hectares. Yesterday, firefighters established a 20-foot blacklined around
90% of the wildfire. Today, they will work to increase the blackline to 50 feet
and continue to patrol and extinguish hot spots around the perimeter of the
fire. An Evacuation Alert has been issued by the Thompson-Nicola Regional
District.
Young Lake
The Young Lake wildfire is estimated at 2,631hectares.
Yesterday, Ground personnel and structure protection specialists began
assessments on Eagan Lake. Aerial ignitions did not commence yesterday as
fire activity increased slightly. Firefighters took advantage of this and
changed tactics to use hand ignitions to ensure all unburned fuels were
removed. All fire activity was contained within pre-determined containment
lines.
Today, if conditions are optimal,
the planned aerial ignition may occur on the northeastern flank that will build
off of yesterday’s hand ignitions. The goal of this operation is to secure the
containment line by removing unburned fuels along this flank. This strategy
will provide a fuel free area and increases the overall effectiveness of
suppression operations by preventing any further spread. In preparation for
these operations, a water truck will spray water along the containment line to
e cool down the edge and additional firefighters and helicopters will be on
site. The conditions will be monitored closely and plans may change as conditions
change.
In preparation for these
operations, a water truck will spray water along the containment line and
additional firefighters will be on site.
We do not take doing these
operations lightly and will closely evaluate conditions and plans may change as
conditions change.
Heavy equipment will continue to
re-enforce the containment lines.
On
July 21, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) expanded the Evacuation
Order for a total of 103 properties. An additional 231 properties in the area remain
on Evacuation Alert.
The wildfire north of Big Stick Lake is estimated to
be 7,321 hectares in size. Fire guard has now been placed all around the
perimeter of the fire by heavy equipment. Firefighters and bucketing
helicopters are working to cool hotspots and reinforce the fire guards in
critical areas around the fire, especially around the north flank of the fire
and the east flank. Firefighters are working to conduct a planned aerial
ignition today on the northeast corner of the fire to secure the fire guard
lines and are waiting for optimal conditions to do so. Highway 20 remains open
to Bella Coola, though road crews are on standby to close the highway as needed
based on wildfire activity or operations.
An Evacuation Order is in effect for the Big Stick
wildfire area. This order replaces the Evacuation Alert issued by the Cariboo
Regional District on July 10.
An Evacuation Alert issued by the Cariboo Regional
District has been expanded and remains in effect for the Big Stick wildfire
area.
Hotnarko Creek
The
Hotnarko Creek wildfire is estimated at 1,500 hectares. The fire has still not crossed Highway 20, and demonstrated
low intensity fire behaviour yesterday. Firefighters
are working along the north and east flank to contain the fire perimeter,
supported by heavy equipment. Operations personnel are planning to have
an aerial heat scan to assess remaining hot spots close to the perimeter, and
will allocate resources accordingly. The fire is now almost fully machine
guarded.
An Evacuation Alert is in effect for the Anahim Lake area.
Below is a summary of some of the
active fires, by zone, as of today. For current sizes on wildfires not listed
below, please check the All
Current Wildfires web page.
Quesnel Fire Zone
There are six active wildfires
burning in this zone. Two fires are now classified as Under Control and four
are Out of Control.
Central Cariboo Zone
There are nine active wildfires
burning in this zone. Two fires are now classified as Under Control, one is
Being Held and six are Out of Control.
Chilcotin Zone
There are three active wildfires
burning in this zone and all are classified as Out of Control.
100 Mile Fire Zone
The Incident Management Team (IMT)
is managing wildfires to the north of Highway 24 and east of Highway 97 within
this zone. The is managing 15 of the 22 active wildfires in the zone, with the
Cariboo Fire Centre managing the remainder. Eleven of the fires in the 100 Mile
zone are now Under Control, two are Being Held, and eight are out of control.
Wildfires of Note Managed by the IMT
Canim Lake
This
wildfire is estimated at 2,673 hectares. There is a 10-foot blackline established where
the fire has burnt to the guard on the north and west side is completed. Crews
will continue to mop up and patrol this area. Blacklining is the process of
removing fuels near the guard with small planned ignitions operations that
reinforces the guard. There was minimal fire behavior yesterday with most of
the fire burning inside the existing perimeter. The fire continues to be
monitored by crews overnight.
Heavy
equipment has established a contingency guard and crews and heavy equipment are
now working directly on the fire perimeter with hose systems and water.
On the east side of the fire, crews will also be working directly on the fire
perimeter South of MacNeil Lake. Structure protection will continue to be
demobilized today where it is no longer required.
There is an Evacuation Order on the south side of
Canim Lake with the north side remains on an Evacuation Alert by the Cariboo
Regional District and Canim Lake First Nation.
Flat Lake
The Flat Lake wildfire is 32,194 hectares and is
classified as “Out of Control.” With the expected
weather forecast for the next few days, crews can safely conduct direct attack
operations.
If conditions permit on the
northern flank, the remaining portion of the ignitions planned for an area
north of Davis Lake will be completed.
On the West side, heavy
equipment is working to connect existing road systems on this west side of the
fire. Today, if conditions permit, planned ignitions may take place in the area
south of Gustafsen and Neilson Lakes.
On the East side, crews and
heavy equipment continue to work on the containment of the east side of the
fire by establishing and reinforcing guards as well as directly attacking with
hose systems and water. They will continue to mop up in and around the
residences in the vicinity of 83 mile on Highway 97 and Stormy road.
On the south side, planning
is underway to link existing road systems to establish a machine guard. Work on
this guard may begin today.
On
July 17, 2021, the Thompson Nicola Regional District upgraded an Evacuation
Alert to an Order for the Flat Lake Wildfire Electoral E (Bonaparte Plateau) in
the vicinity of Gustafsen and Neilson Lakes. The additional Evacuation Alert
issued by the Thompson Nicola Regional District remains in place. The
Evacuation Order and Alert issued by the Cariboo Regional District remain in
place.
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