Good progress on fires throughout the area
| Firewatch |
It was good news all around at today’s fire briefing, although the BC Forest Service did state that some area fires will not be called ‘out’ until the season changes and that the weekend weather offered relief but did not end the fire season. Weather conditions are also expected to become warmer and drier.
The weather over the weekend allowed fire fighters to regain some ground, and important fire lines were built and maintained. Fire fighters were able to get right in front of the fires instead of watching walls of flame.
With clear skies today, air operations can resume safely and immediate threats to communities and fire fighters has decreased.
In Pelican Lake, fire #205 is burning at 33,000 hectares and is 20% contained and fire #299 is 24,000 hectares and is 10% contained. Good progress was made on both fires yesterday and fire fighting conditions are expected to improve further today. Some fires were ranked at 3 out of 6 yesterday and Cat guards are continuing through today, along with the establishment of fire control lines. The RCMP have left the area and new security arrangements are being put into place for new road restrictions.
Good success all around was reported for the Meldrum Creek complex. The rain allowed crews to de-mobilize and move to other fire areas. Crews continue to construct fire guards and can now do burn-offs and direct attacks. An increase in fire activity is expected with predicted warmer, drier weather, but right now the combined fire size is 52,000 hectares, with 568 fire fighting personnel in the area.
In the Meldrum complex, fire #189 is 75% contained, fire #183 is 100% contained, fire #186 is 75% contained and other smaller fires are 100% contained. There are still 2,000 fire fighting personnel in the Cariboo and the resource level will remain unchanged until it is possible to scale down.
In the fires closest to Williams Lake, the 8km distance from the Fraser River has not changed, even with the winds. The eastern flanks are most concerning, but those lines have been held.
The CRD reported that in Bull Canyon all evacuation orders are reduced to alerts (affecting 155 homes) and Highway 20 is open both ways.
In Meldrum Creek all orders are reduced to alerts (affecting 13 homes) and east of the Fraser, including McLeese Lake, all alerts have been lifted.
The Pelican Lake area evacuation orders have been reduced to alerts (affecting 66 homes); people got home safely and found their homes intact. Roads in the area have limited access to be used by residents and fire fighters.
In Tsasha Lake the evacuation orders and alerts remain in effect, affecting 356 homes.
Mayor Cook stated that there are no alerts in the City of Williams Lake and that the Emergency Social Service centre is closed down at this point. She took the opportunity to thank the many volunteers, local businesses and organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Red Cross, who offered lots of help and support. She said it’s ‘business as usual’ in Williams Lake.
Allison Ruault from Interior Health said that the biggest concerns are for changes in air quality, which will be monitored closely day by day. The Cariboo Memorial Hospital doors are all open today, with full services. She said that people coming to access tests and services at the hospital be patient with the back-log times and to come in the afternoon if possible. If the air quality deteriorates and hospital access is limited again, notices will be posted on the doors and on the Interior Health website. As regards to surgical services, she said that people schedules for procedures have been notified that the hospital expects to continue surgeries and will monitor the situation daily.
She also said that the health clinic in Alexis Creek opened its doors this morning, and that even when there are restrictions for hospital access, people can always come if they need to be seen for a true emergency.
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