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Wildfire update brings welcomed good news

Evacuation alerts/orders rescinded, fires contained
8133192_web1_Island-Pond-GPS
The Island Pond fire is now 100 per cent contained.

Paul Rodgers

The latest release from the BC Wildfire Service carries some good news for the Southeast Fire Centre.

“Due to a slight decrease in fire behaviour over the past several days, regional districts within the Southeast Fire Centre have made adjustments to some evacuation alerts and evacuation orders in the region,” the release reads.

The Island Pond fire, north of Skookumchuck along Highway 95, which covers an area of around 1,032 hectares, is now 100 per cent contained, as of the time of this release on the evening of Tuesday, August 15.

There were 56 personnel working on the fire and with the support of three pieces of heavy equipment, the crews have established a wet guard around the fire’s perimeter and the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) rescinded its evacuation alert for the Island Pond and Premier Lake area on August 14.

Southeast Fire Centre Information Officer Karlie Shaughnessy said over the phone that the fire rating does remain variable, explaining that while some parts of the region got rain, others didn’t and said, “it doesn’t take much for the forest fuels to dry out again and become very volatile.”

“Any amount of precipitation really does help firefighting efforts,” she said of the Island Pond fire. “It really helped calm fire activity on the fire so crews could directly attack hotspots.”

The Morley Creek wildfire that covers 80 hectares burning north east of Nelson is being battled by 20 firefighters including an incident management team from Australia using direct attack techniques on this fire as conditions allow. On noon on August 15, Regional District of Central Kootenay has rescinded the evacuation alert between Sitkum Creek and Crescent Bay.

Also in the release it stated that the McCormick Creek fire, which was made infamous in the minds of many for causing the attendees and organizers of Shambhala Music Festival a lot of grief last week, is now 40 per cent contained. There are 34 personnel on site building fire guards with the help of four helicopters and 12 pieces of heavy equipment and the report states that there has been no significant growth of this fire.

One new lightning caused fire in Lewis Creek was reported on Tuesday, August 15 at just 0.2 hectares but as of Wednesday it is already 100 per cent contained and is not threatening any structures or infrastructure.

To stay up to date on wildfires in the Southeast Fire Centre, visit:

http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status