UPDATED: Mission forest fire claims three hectares
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Updated: August 05, 2009 2:13 PM
Coastal Fire Centre firefighters have been working to extinguish a three hectare blaze just outside the District of Mission’s municipal forest boundaries.
Boaters on Stave Lake reported seeing smoke Saturday afternoon to Mission firefighters set up at the entrance to Burma Road, who were doing burn awareness throughout the weekend, said Mission Fire/Rescue Service Chief Ian Fitzpatrick.
The chief drove up Burma to just north of the Zajac Ranch, and initially couldn’t see any fire, until looking across the lake.
“We could see light smoke, and the fire is within the District of Mission, but outside the tree farm licence,” he reported. While inside Mission’s boundaries, the site is only accessible by boat or by air, which made it impossible for municipal firefighters to reach.
Fitzpatrick called Coastal and requested their assistance, which resulted in a helicopter being sent over the scene. An initial attack crew was sent in around 6 p.m. Saturday, and the fire had grown to approximately one hectare, with grasses and trees on fire. A request for a tanker to drop retardant around the fire was not able to be met, as there were no aircraft available, so the fire was left to continue burning overnight.
The following day brought news the fire had tripled in size, but a tanker was sent in and it dropped eight loads of retardant around the scene, limiting its spread, Fitzpatrick stated.
A ground crew of 15 and helicopters are currently working the fire, and they are in the mop-up stage, according to Fitzpatrick.
This will take a long time, Fitzpatrick said, as crews reported the fire is “very deep in the ground.”
No cause has yet been determined.
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