Residents of Kelly Lake have returned to their home but remain under an evacuation alert as the Bearhole Lake fire continues to burn to the southwest of the settlement.
High winds and warm temperatures allowed the fire to take off towards the community, growing from 2 ha to 100 ha to 1000 ha, to 6313 ha in a long, thin line pointed nearly straight at Kelly Lake.
While BC Wildfire service was unable to fight the leading edge of the fire, which travelled 12 km in one day at its peak, crews were able to come in alongside the flanks of the fire, establishing a parallel guard and then, when the winds finally let up on September 6, burning the remaining timber between the guard and the fire, leaving it with no way to go.
The winds were unable to push the fire all the way to Highway 52, which forms a wide barrier for the fire, and with crews working on containing the leading edge of the fire, they are optimistic enough that they have contained the blaze enough to allow folks from Kelly Lake to return home.
“We haven’t seen any significant growth on the fire since September 6,” says Incident Commander Jeff Walsh on September 9.
At the southeast end of the fire, the fire is being contained by the Kiskatinaw forest service road, which crews have widened to keep the fire from spreading if the winds shift directions, as expected. They have also been conducting controlled burns in the area to remove potential fuel sources, with more to come if wind and weather allow. So far, they have burned a section along the southeast section of the fire, hopefully preventing the fire from working its way that way.
In places, they have been having difficulty doing some of the groundwork due to the fact that there are large areas of muskeg. While these do help stop the spread of the fire, strong winds can push the fire along the tops of the trees, allowing the fire to spread, even through these wet areas.
With the fire having burned itself out in areas, crews are working along Highway 52 to mop-up the edge of the fire where heavy equipment is unable to work. This is done by establishing water delivery line to host down hot spots and using hand tools to break up burning materials for about 30 m into the fire perimeter. “This is where the bulk of our unit crews are working, making good progress and containing the fire from spreading closer to Highway 52.
The fire was being managed as part of the Battleship Complex, but on September 8 it was broken off from those fires and is now being fought on its own.
At its peak, there were 92 firefighters, seven helicopters and 23 pieces of heavy equipment working the fire. In addition, there were 23 structural protection personnel working in Kelly Lake in case the fire made it past the highway.
Still, while the leading edge of the fire has mostly run aground, Walsh says there is still cause for concern. The fire is still burning in Bearhole Lake provincial park, and has established a new front edge southwest of the original burn. “We are currently monitoring any new fire activity in this area, and are containing any increase in activity with aircraft bucketing water. We are making future plans to have more resources in that area to establish full containment.”
There is also an area along the northwest edge of the fire, west of Blackhawk Lake, where the fire could get away if wind and weather shifts. Like they’re doing along the southwest edge of the fire, helicopters are bucketing water in to try and contain the fire as much as possible. “We currently have plans in place for full suppression on this fire. Progress is going well to date,” says Walsh.
Highway 52 remained closed between the Boot Lake Road and the Redwillow/Hiding Creek Road at the time of this writing. As well, a fire exclusion zone has been established around the fire, which includes the Boot Lake Recreation site.
Elsewhere, a pair of fires are still burning near Monkman Park, one east of the park (200 ha), one west (34 ha), while another burns west of the Sukunka River. That one is less than 5 ha in size.
Six other fires are now declared out, including a small fire in the Hiding Creek area.
For up to date(ish) information, visit Tumbler Ridgelines on Facebook or the BC Wildfire service at https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status/wildfire-situation
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
