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Wildfire Update for the Southeast Fire Centre

Lone Sheep Publishing
By Lone Sheep Publishing
August 18th, 2022

During the past week the Southeast Fire Centre has seen an increase in fire activity a BC Wildfire Service media release said Wednesday.

The BC Wildfire Service said that ground crews and aviation resources have since responded to 87 new fires, 51 remain active at this time — with 15 of these fires are Under Control, 10 are being held and 26 are currently listed as Out of Control.

The BC Wildfire Service said that most of these fires are lightning-caused, high elevation targets.

“As fuels continue to dry and relative humidity has dropped in the Southeast; we anticipate seeing increased fire behaviour and complexity as holdover fires continue being discovered,” the media release said.

“Unit crews are being established on several incidents in the Southeast Fire Centre. When wildfires exceed the capacity of initial attack resources, 20-person unit crews are deployed to conduct sustained action. They perform a variety of functions, such as fire suppression, burn operations, establishing pump and hose lines and removing fuel and danger trees.”

Here is a capsule look at the fires of concern in the Southeast Fire Centre:

Briggs Creek

The Briggs Creek wildfire is located approximately 11.5 kilometres west of Kaslo. It was discovered August 1, 2022 and is estimated to be 1,730 hectares in size. When first discovered, most of this fire has burned in steep and mountainous terrain that was unsafe for crews and aviation resources to work on directly.

This fire has since slowly backed downslope to established containment lines and is coming to an area of defendable ground where crews can start using direct attack strategies to suppress it. There are now 45 firefighters supporting the control lines with water in some areas of the fire where water delivery is possible. In other areas, additional small-scale hand ignitions will occur to remove fuel between the fires edge and control lines.

This incident is a Wildfire of Note. More information and daily updates found here.

Mulvey Creek 

The Mulvey Creek wildfire is located approximately 4.5 kilometres from the Village of Slocan in the southern end of Valhalla Park. The fire is estimated to be four hectares in size.

Yesterday, August 16th, skimmers and airtankers worked together on the fire to minimize fire behaviour, allowing ground crews to arrive and begin work establishing containment lines. Today are five helicopters and 12 personnel onsite using direct attack strategies to suppress the fire.

While smoke is highly visible from the Village of Slocan and surrounding areas, this fire is not currently threatening structures or infrastructure.

Wren Creek 

The Wren Creek wildfire is located approximately 6.5 kilometres northeast of the Ymir and is estimated to be two hectares.

It is demonstrating moderately vigorous surface fire behaviour. Airtankers were on site yesterday, August 16th, and successfully wrapped all sides of the fire with retardant. Eight personnel and one helicopter are on site today, being supported by heavy equipment to establish containment lines. The fire is not currently threatening structures.

Fire officials would like to remind everyone to be responsible with any activity that could potentially create a wildfire. Human-caused wildfires are fully preventable and unnecessarily divert firefighting resources from naturally occurring wildfires.

Mount Docking

The Mount Docking wildfire is located approximately 27 kilometres east of the Village of Radium Hot Springs and approximately 7 kilometres east of Kootenay National Park.

Due to morning inversions and heavy smoke, visibility was limited over the past couple days and a size update was unable to take place until today, August 17th. This fire is now estimated to be 1,317 hectares. Smoke is expected to increase in the afternoons and continue to be visible in the coming days. There are 42 firefighters, six helicopters and five pieces of heavy equipment are currently assigned to this fire.

Due to the increased size, the Mount Docking has been made a Wildfire of Note. More information and daily updates can be found here.

To report a wildfire call 1 800 663-5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cell phone. For the latest information on current wildfire activity, burning restrictions, road closures and air-quality advisories, visit: http://www.bcwildfire.ca

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