Arrow Lake Wildfire Complex Update
By Castlegar Source
Octopus Creek Wildfire
Size: 18,337 hectares
Status: Out of control
Cause: Lightning
57 firefighters , 19 pieces of heavy equipment
Michaud Creek Wildfire
Size: 8,847 hectares
Status: Out of control
Cause: Lightning
33 firefighters, 13 pieces of heavy equipment
Renata Creek Wildfire
Size: 2,801 hectares
Status: Out of control
Cause: Lightning
1 firefighter, 9 pieces of
heavy equipment
Incident Management Team and General Complex: 15 firefighters, 18 support personnel, 5 helicopters.
There are currently a total of 124 firefighters, 41 pieces of heavy equipment and 5 helicopters assigned to the Arrow Lake Complex. Additional aircraft is available, if requested.
The Incidence Management Team is reminding the residents of Fauquier and Renata who are now on evacuation alert that structure protection will remain in the community until the alert is lifted.
“We kindly ask that the structure protection assets such as hoses, holding pools and sprinklers, not be relocated or removed as they are strategically placed by trained firefighters,” they said in a release issues Wednesday.
For residents who are located in areas where the alert has been lifted, structure protection assets will be taken down over the coming days.
Officials ask that residents stay away from burnt forested areas. There is a significant risk of trees falling due to burnt out roots and/or wind events causing trees to fall over. With the extreme drought conditions, areas where there is any deep soil could retain ground fire for some time, and will require several days of rain to fully extinguish the hot spots.
The fires received a small amount of moisture overnight and early Wednesday morning. There is a 50 per cent chance of thunderstorms and scattered showers this morning. A mixture of sun and cloud is expected this afternoon with a 25 per cent chance of thunderstorms. Temperatures remain moderate at 27-28 per cent with high humidity. The smoke and higher humidity should help to reduce fire activity and improve conditions of burnable surface fuels; however, the larger fuels and deep soil remain highly combustible. Crews report reduced fire activity on the fire line. In spite of this, conditions can change rapidly, and fire behaviour could increase suddenly.
OCTOPUS CREEK | WILDFIRE UPDATE
The construction of the north flank line has been very successful. Firefighters and heavy equipment will continue to reinforce the control line, built to protect the community of Fauquier from the advancing wildfire. A small spot fire was located on the east flank near Mista Peak. It’s estimated to be 0.2 ha in size and being actioned by firefighters. Heavy equipment and crews at the east flank on Koch Creek are making good progress establishing control line in the valley. This line is intended to prevent the wildfire from spreading east into adjacent valleys. The fire is slowly creeping each day; however, the crews and equipment continue to reinforce the guards. Additional heavy equipment is planned to install new guard in priority areas once the priority lines are set.
MICHAUD CREEK | WILDFIRE UPDATE
Good progress is being made by firefighters, who continue to work on the control line located to the north of the wildfire. Crews have established pumps and water hose from the lake and continue to work towards the west. The objective is to prevent the fire from growing towards the north, north west. Firefighters continue to look for and extinguish spot fires across Johnson Creek with water and hose along with helicopter assistance when visibility allows. Under the current weather conditions, firefighters anticipate they can contain the spot fires. Firefighters have now begun to establish guard line south of Michaud Creek, starting from the lake, with hand tools and pump and hose.
The majority of the wildfire has been inaccessible for rotary-wing due to smoke conditions; however, the wildfire is being monitored by satellite imagery. Planned control lines will be constructed as soon as conditions allow, with heavy equipment and planned ignition where possible.
RENATA CREEK | WILDFIRE UPDATE
On the Renata Creek wildfire, crews continue to build and reinforce control lines established in priority areas. The fire continues to back down slowly toward the community, but there is no imminent threat at this time. The structure protection unit is nearly completed in Renata.
