As of Tuesday, June 20 (the day the paper went to press), the West Kiskatinaw fire remained sitting on the far side of Bearhole Lake road, about 4 km east of town after being pushed 8 km in an afternoon on Thursday, June 8, forcing the evacuation of town.
Nearly all residents had evacuated by 10 pm on July 8. By that time, the winds had died down and failed to pick back up for the next day or two.
And when they finally did, the winds were blowing away from town.
While fire conditions remained high over the next few days, the winds never shifted, allowing the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) to work on the south and west sides of the fire, building fire breaks, especially along the Bearhole Lake Road.
Work on that area was hindered due to—of all things—the ground being too wet for equipment to work.
According to BCWS, Bearhole Lake Road was the line that they had to hold. If the fire had made it past the road, it would run quickly up the hill. Fire moves faster uphill as the heat of the fire rises, drying out the trees in front of the fire.
While the fire would probably have been slower coming down the hill, it was starting spot fires well ahead of the main fire body, and could have showered sparks down onto the town, starting spot fires in town.
That never happened. Cooler temperatures and the occasional rain shower helped calm the fire’s behaviour, and at 10 am on June 15—exactly one week after the evacuation order—people from Tumbler Ridge were allowed back into town.
The Peavine Creek fire—which along with the West Kiskatinaw fire form the South Peace Fire Complex—crossed Highway 52 East, while the West Kiskatinaw fire crossed Highway 52 North. The fire is no longer burning in these areas, and both roads are now open.
However, an area restriction is in effect for much of the area between the two arms of the highway, and many of the industrial roads east of Tumbler Ridge—including the Noel and Hourglass roads—are closed to traffic.
The fire is estimated at 25,095 ha. That’s up from a previous estimate of 19,714 ha. Fire Information Officer Forrest Tower says the fire has seen little growth over the last few days, but as more information come available, the estimates are much more accurate. With rain and cooler weather, fire behaviour has dropped from rank 5 fire behaviour down to rank 1.
While there have been flare ups, sending plumes of smoke towering over the ridge, BCWS says these have been farther away from town—out near Bearhole Lake.
In town, wildfire crews have dismantled structural protection on the upper bench and moved on to other fires.
Between the two fires of the South Peace Complex—Peavine Creek in the Northeast and the West Kiskatinaw Fire near Tumbler—there are 87 firefighters, seven helicopters and 20 pieces of heavy equipment.
While the weather is getting nicer again—with temperatures expected to hit the mid 20s by the end of the week—BCWS believes the barriers that are in place, plus the fact that most of the fuel the fire could burn has already been burned, should mean that the fire doesn’t threaten the town again. “There’s a lower wildfire risk at this point,” says Tower. “We aren’t anticipating that to change for the next little while.”
That said, the town remains on evacuation alert. “This fire is going to be around throughout the summer,” says Tower. “Unless we get a significant amount of rain, there’s really not the ability to say the fire is out. But the area of concern on the west flank? We are less concerned about it moving west, even if in the next few weeks we start to see winds try and push the fire that way.”
On June 18, about 20 mm of rain fell on the fire, which has seriously knocked back fire behaviour. At its peak on June 7 and 8, the fire was exhibiting rank 5 and 6 fire behavior, which is the most active wildfire behaviour. Now, the fire is rank 1, a smouldering ground fire, though an extended period of hot, dry weather may cause it to flare up again.
The town is still under an evacuation alert, and people should be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Have a grab and go bag ready and enough fuel to make it to Chetwynd. More information at www.tumblerridgelines.com
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
