Firefighters and forestry workers have seemingly gained the upper hand in a wildfire in the vicinity of Fourth Lake, in the Nanaimo Lakes area.
The two-hectare cutblock fire, situated approximately 30 kilometres away from Nanaimo, was discovered Tuesday, Sept. 10, at around 9:30 p.m. and is now under control, at 1.4 ha. in size, according to B.C. Wildfire Service.
"Crews cut a fuel free perimeter around the fire with chainsaws and hand-tools and [established] a water-delivery system to secure the leading edges then they will mop up the fire to full extinguishment from the outside inwards,” Rebecca Grogan, Coastal Fire Centre information officer, told the News Bulletin in an e-mail.
It is hard to estimate a time for when the fire will be extinguished, she said.
"Cutblock fires contain heavy fuels and complete extinguishment takes some time,” Grogan said. "Crews will suppress the fire until there is no smoke showing then return at regular intervals to patrol until they are satisfied no heat remains. This is dictated by the conditions on-site and the judgment of the incident commander."
There were no threats to any residences or other structures, Nick Donnelly, Coastal Fire Centre information officer, told the News Bulletin on Sept. 11
"It is suspected to be human caused, but the exact cause hasn't yet been been determined, so it could really be the anything … there wasn't any lightning in that area," Donnelly said, when asked whether the fire seemed suspicious. Grogan said the fire’s origin is still being examined.
"Generally speaking, when we investigate human-caused fires, fire origin and cause investigators are assigned,” said Grogan. "They work with Ministry of Forests compliance and enforcement officers to investigate the cause and determine if a responsible party can be identified. Depending on the circumstances of the fire a range of options exist to address penalties and damages.”
With rain the night of Sept. 10 and clouds Sept. 11, conditions were more favourable to fight the fire, but Grogan also credits crews.
"We responded quickly to this fire with initial attack crews,” Grogan said. "They have been working hard on objectives every day and are making good progress, so, we can credit a quick response and good firefighting. It is true that we are seeing cooler temperatures and better overnight recoveries moving into the fall. We generally start to see a shift in fire behaviour as we move into fall as the days get shorter and nights longer.”
Despite the cooler weather, there is still risk of fire, according to fire centre, as a majority of the Island has a fire danger rating listed as moderate.
"Conditions are improving for us, but I think this is just a good reminder that we are still susceptible, fires still can start," Donnelly said. "So we just encourage everyone to recreate responsibly and safely.
Anyone who sees signs of wildfire can report it by calling *5555 on their cellphone or 1-800-663-5555.
