Coastal Fire Centre Status Report for the week ending July 12, 2023

Overview

The Coastal Fire Centre is suffering from a deep drought that started last fall and has persisted through the winter and into the spring and summer. Last weekend there was lightning along the Coast Mountains from Bella Coola to the US border which has lead to several fires. Due to them being near mountains, and caused by lightning, many of these fires are at high elevations away from communities.

So far this year in the Coastal Fire Centre, there have been 141 fires, 112 of which are suspected to be human-caused. Last year on this date, we had responded to a total of 19 fires, however last year we received significant precipitation in May and June. This week we have had 34 new fires and are responding to 27.

Due to the increase in fires this week, we are responding in priority order by first focusing on fires that might impact human life and safety. The Coastal Fire Centre is providing resources to help manage other provincial fires while keeping sufficient resources available to respond to wildfires that could impact Coastal residents, neighbourhoods and the infrastructure that keeps them safe.

There are currently 2 Wildfire of Notes in the Coastal Fire Centre:

• V11152 – the Davis Lake wildfire in the Fraser zone and VA

• VA1335 – the Dean River wildfire in the Mid Coast Zone

We urge the public to obey open fire prohibitions, which restrict all open fire in our jurisdictional areas, except for campfires in Haida Gwaii. These prohibitions are enacted to help prevent human-caused wildfires and to protect public safety.

The following activities are also prohibited:

• Fireworks

• Sky Lanterns

• Burn Barrels or Burn Cages of any size or description

• Binary Exploding Targets

• Air curtain burners

• Tiki and similar kind of torches; and,

• Chimineas.

Current prohibitions do not include the use of outdoor stoves or portable campfire devices as defined within the Wildfire Regulation. As per the Wildfire Regulation, an outdoor stove is a CSA-rated or ULC-rated device used outdoors for cooking, heat or ambiance that burns charcoal briquettes, liquid fuel or gaseous fuel, and has a flame height that is less than 15 cm tall.

With the hot, dry conditions and risk of lightning, we ask all members of the public to be extremely careful when recreating. The BC Wildfire Service is well-resourced to respond to any potential fire starts, however human-caused fires are completely preventable and defer resources from our naturally caused fires. If you see smoke or a wildfire, please call 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 from a cell phone. You can also use the “Report a Fire” button on the BC Wildfire Service app. These actions assist in making timely response decisions

Please check www.bcwildfire.ca for the most up to date information on open burning bans and current wildfires within the Coastal Fire Centre.

Coastal Contact Information

Fire Information Line:
250 951-4209

Public Info Line:

1 888 336-7378

To Report Wildfires:
1 800 663-5555

*5555 on a cellphone 

Active Fires

• V11152 – Davis Lake – Fraser Zone – 110 ha. – Out of Control

• V11616 – E of Seymour River – 0.3 ha. – Out of Control

• V11256 – Yola Creek – Fraser Zone – 3 ha. – Out of Control

• V11332 – 6km Peak Sunny Mnt – Fraser Zone – 8.0 ha. – Out of Control

• V11337 – Kookipi Creek – Fraser Zone – 94 ha. – Out of Control

• V11221 – N Ainsley FSR – Fraser Zone – 0.1 ha. – Out of Control

• V10588 – Chehalis River – Fraser Zone – 767 ha. – Being Held

• V11223 – Speyum Creek – Fraser Zone – 0.7 ha. – Under Control

• V11219 – N Ainsley FRS – Fraser Zone – 0.1 ha. – Under Control

• V11254 – Cantelon Creek – Fraser Zone – 0.9 ha. – Under Control

• V31625 – 1.3 KM S of Tranquil Creek – Pemberton Zone – 0.009 ha. – Out of Control

• V31640 – E of Gamelin Creek – Pemberton Zone – 0.009 ha. – Out of Control

• V31635 – S of Owl Creek – Pemberton Zone – 0.009 ha. – Out of Control

• V31643 – Miller Creek – Pemberton Zone – 1.1 ha. – Out of Control

• V31642 – Signal Hill – Pemberton Zone – 0.009 ha. – Out of Control

• V31646 – N of Showh Lake – Pemberton Zone – 0.009 ha. – Out of Control

• V31647 – S of Tenas Narrows – Pemberton Zone – 0.009 ha. – Out of Control

• V31300 – W of Athelstan Mountain – Pemberton Zone – 25 ha. – Being Held

• V31141 – Crawford Creek – Pemberton Zone – 21 ha. – Under Control

• V70600 – Cameron Bluffs – Mid Island Zone – 229 ha. – Under Control

• V71098 – Klanawa River – Mid Island Zone – 16.6 ha. – Under Control

• V80527 – Newcastle Creek – Campbell River Zone – 230 ha. – Being Held

• V81273 – Garrett Lake – Campbell River Zone – 0.009 ha. – Under Control

• V91508 – Mereworth Sound – Port McNeill Zone – 0.009 ha. – Being Held

• V91301 – Waump Creek – Port McNeill Zone – 0.009 ha. – Being Held

• VA1462 – 2.7 KM SW of Elbow Lake – Mid Coast Zone – 416 ha. – Out of Control

• VA1456 – 1.5 KM NE of Lonesome Lake – Mid Coast Zone – 598 ha. – Out of Control

• VA1306 – Meikan Mountail – Mid Coast Zone – 15 ha. – Out of Control

• VA1291 – Mesachie Nose – Mid Coast Zone – 0.5 ha. – Out of Control

• VA1271 – Kimsquit Bay – Mid Coast Zone – 0.009 ha. – Out of Control

• VA1335 – Dean River – Mid Coast Zone – 313 ha. – Out of Control

• VA1381 – 0.8 KM S Oppy Lake – Mid Coast Zone – 400 ha. – Out of Control

• VA1638 – 1.7 KM N of Craig Creek – Mid Coast Zone – Out of Control

• VA1167 – 5 KM N of Grizzly Creek – Mid Coast Zone – 2 ha. – Being Held

• VA1507 – 2 KM W of Mosher Creek – Mid Coast Zone – 1.75 ha. – Being Held

• VA1392 – 0.6 KM NE of Mosher Creek – Mid Coast Zone – 0.7 ha. – Under Control

Learn more about Wildfire Rank and Stages of Control.

Weather Forecast

OUTLOOK: Friday to Sunday:

Friday puts the Fire Centre between an offshore trough and a trough to the NE with moderate SW flow aloft. It's a dry day but winds pick up from Thursday. Showers approach Haida Gwaii by evening. On Saturday instability spreads into the northern Fire Centre with a few showers and a risk of thunderstorms, as a low approaches Haida Gwaii. Warm with high cloudiness and gusty inflows over the southern zones. On Sunday the low off Haida Gwaii begins to track to the SE. Showers and gusty winds over northern zones spread into southern zones late Sunday evening. Much cooler.

6 TO 10 DAY: Monday to next Thursday

Monday looks cloudy and cool across the Fire Centre with widespread showers and gusty winds. Drying and warming expected Tuesday - Thursday as a ridge rebuilds and stalls over southern BC.

Fire Prohibitions and Restrictions