—Update: 9 p.m. Aug. 30—
The Round Mountain wildfire has been declared out, as has the Starvation Lake blaze, according to the BC Wildfire Service map.
Both were caused by lightning strikes on Friday night.
The Corrigan Creek wildfire is now listed as under control, meaning it is not projected to spread beyond its current perimeter.
The new Lions Bay wildfire at Yahoo Creek, which started today, is now listed as being held, meaning it is "projected, based on fuel and weather conditions and resource availability, to remain within the current perimeter, control line or boundary."
This wildfire is located in a very steep and sloped terrain east of Highway 99, approximately three kilometres North of Lions Bay.
It remains at 0.009 hectares in size, and is now suspected to be human caused.
One Rapattack crew and a response officer are currently on site responding to this wildfire.
"Rapattack crews are a specialized type of three-person initial attack crew who use medium-lift helicopters equipped with hoist and rappel gear to access difficult-to-reach incidents," according to the BC Wildfire Service.
There are two helicopters responding to this wildfire.
According to the BC Wildfire Service, no infrastructure, or the highway, is currently impacted.
"Smoke may be visible from the highway."
The fire behaviour is primarily Rank 1 and 2, meaning a low-vigour smouldering ground fire.
Culliton Creek and Klinker Ridge wildfires—which were also caused by lightning on Friday—remain out of control as of tonight.
—Update: 3 p.m. Aug. 30—
A new wildfire started today, Saturday, Aug. 30, near Lions Bay.
The Yahoo Creek wildfire is 0.009 hectares and out of control.
The Starvation Lake wildfire continues to be held at 0.1 hectares.
The lightning-caused Round Mountain fire is at 0.009 hectares and remains out of control as of Saturday afternoon. Earlier today, the BC Wildfire Service map said the wildfire was under investigation.
The lightning-caused Culliton Creek wildfire is also at 0.009 hectares and remains out of control.
Same with the Corrigan Creek and the Klinker Ridge wildfires.
Fire information assistant Olivia Fenton, of the Coastal Fire Centre told The Squamish Chief that with all of the new ignitions we picked up in the Pemberton Fire Zone—27 of the 31 new fires across the centre were in the Pemberton-Squamish area—resources like firefighters and aviation were able to be shared between fires in close proximity to each other, Fenton said.
“Response types can vary between incidents, depending on the location it is burning in. The BC Wildfire Service uses a full response when there is a threat to public safety and/or property and other values, such as infrastructure or timber. Immediate action is taken. During a full response, a wildfire is suppressed and controlled until it is deemed out," she added.
“Some of the ignitions we’ve seen from this event are in remote, upper alpine areas and may require a modified response. During a modified response, a wildfire is managed using a combination of techniques. The goal is to minimize damage while maximizing ecological benefits from the fire. This response method is used when there is no immediate threat to communities or infrastructure,” she said.
Fenton explained that when a fire does not have a size estimate on the BC Wildfire Service map—or it says 0 hectares as the Round Mountain was listed earlier—it typically means that the incident was detected in an area, but an accurate size track is not yet available.
“Size estimates are in flux in the earlier hours of incident detection, and as the day goes on more details will become available—all updated on our BC Wildfire Service incident pages as soon as we have that information,” she said.
While wildfire smoke is visible in Squamish, the air quality rating is still moderate or low, according to most readings.
What humans can do to help
Fenton stressed that human-caused wildfires are preventable.
“It is important that the public is doing their part to recreate safely by following current open-fire prohibitions. This allows for resources to be directed to these naturally caused ignitions that are not preventable,” Fenton said.
“British Columbians are also our first partners in early wildfire detection and response! We rely on members of the public to report all signs of wildfires. Sending through photos using the Report a Fire function on our app is an extremely helpful way for crews to gain more situational awareness before they respond to an incident,” she said.
“Whether you use the BC Wildfire Service app or dial *5555 from a cellphone, you are doing your part to help us respond to these wildfires.”
—Original story—
A few small wildfires that were sparked on Friday are burning near Squamish this morning.
One is on Round Mountain, in Garibaldi Provincial Park. Its size is listed as 0.0 hectares in size so far.
The BC Wildfire Service Map labels it as “out of control,” meaning “a wildfire that is spreading or is anticipated to spread beyond the current perimeter, or control line.”
The cause of this fire is under investigation.
Wildfire two sparked on Friday, is at Culliton Creek, approximately 20 kilometres north of Squamish, and is listed as 0.009 hectares and out of control.
The suspected cause of this fire is lightning. There was a thunderstorm locally on Friday, late afternoon and evening.
A third wildfire was sparked by lightning Friday night, nearby at Corrigan Creek, which is also at 0.009 hectares; it too is out of control.
A fourth wildfire that started on Friday evening is the Klinker Ridge fire. It is also out of control and identified as 0.009 hectares in size.
A fifth wildfire at Starvation Lake, which was also discovered on Friday and started by lightning, is being held at 0.1 hectares.
Being held means it is “projected, based on fuel and weather conditions and resource availability, to remain within the current perimeter, control line or boundary.”
The Pemberton area has seen numerous fires start, with approximately 21 fires reported within a 24-hour period, according to the BC Wildfire Service.
Education campaign in the Squamish Valley
Due to the hot, dry conditions, BC Wildfire Service, Squamish Nation Land Guardians and other stakeholder agencies have been out over the long weekends this summer, at the entrance to the Upper Squamish Valley, warning recreators of the conditions and the campfire ban.
They were there last night and out again today, Aug. 30.
The fire danger rating in and around Squamish on Saturday is 4, out of five, or high.
According to BC Wildfire Service definitions, high means “forest fuels are very dry and the fire risk is serious. New fires may start easily, burn vigorously, and challenge fire suppression efforts. Extreme caution must be used in any forest activities. Open burning and industrial activities may be restricted.”
For today, Environment Canada says we can expect it to be mainly sunny. The wind will blow from the south at 20 km/h early this afternoon, except gusting to 40 near the water this afternoon. We will see a high of 27 C, except 21 C near the water.
In total, in B.C., there are currently 128 active wildfires. Of those, 54 started in the last 24 hours.
Since the start of the wildfire season on April 1, there have been 1,042 wildfires in the province, which have burned 735,410 hectares of land.
Of the total number of wildfires, 52% were caused by lightning, 45% by human activity, and 3% have an undetermined cause.
Report wildfires by calling: 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on a cell.