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Bill Nye burns past 1,000 ha
BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) today (July 21) reports the Bill Nye Mountain wildfire, seven km southeast of Wasa, has grown by another 100 hectares in the past 24 hours to 1,057 ha.
“This morning low intensity fire behaviour has been noted on this fire. That is expected to increase as the anticipated winds pick up. Strong winds are expected to increase well into today and continue to drive aggressive fire behaviour in the interior, southern interior, and southeast region of the province,” BCWS outlined in its Fire of Note report.
“Good progress continues to made on the control lines at the base of the mountain with the project nearly finalized. The fuel free tied to the south containment line has been completed and crews are setting up a sprinkler system on the hand-line on the southern guard to reinforce the control line and keep the humidity up in the area. Helicopters are available to bucket the fire on an as needed basis and to move crews around.”
An evacuation alert remains in place for 53 properties in the Lazy Lake, Lakit Lake, Holmes Road, and Wildhorse FSR areas.
No new fires are being reported in the East Kootenay today, though a new, small fire (.01 ha) is reported in Wiedenman Creek, visible on the south side of Highway 1, about 18 km east of Golden. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
Four wildfires remain out-of-control in the East Kootenay.
The lightning-caused Tanglefoot Creek wildfire, discovered July 16 about 15 km southeast of the Bill Nye fire, has grown from 288 ha to an estimated 325 ha today.
The lightning-caused fire discovered July 16 in Dewar Creek about 2.5 km west of Price Lake in St. Mary Alpine Provincial Park, about 36 km northwest of Kimberley, remains out-of-control at 58 ha.
The lightning-caused fire in Forsite, discovered July 19, located on a slope on the east side of White River, 28 km northeast of Canal Flats. The fire is an estimated .6 ha and now considered out-of-control.
Fourteen km due south of that is the lightning-caused Ptarmigan Creek wildfire five km north of Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park, which remains out-of-control at 55 ha, up from 18 ha yesterday.
BCWS’s Wildfire Dashboard reports four other fires in the region under control or being held.
The Moyie River/Lumberton fire is still under control at 29 ha.
The Granite Creek wildfire in the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy, discovered July 3, is being held at 26 ha.
The lightning-caused Bear Creek fire, discovered July 2 in the Kootenay Valley east of Invermere is under control at 1.5 ha.
And the lightning-caused fire near Big Lake south of Wasa, discovered July 13, is being held at 11 ha.
Lead image: A look at some of the challenging terrain facing BCWS firefighters from the Bill Nye Mountain wildfire. BC Wildfire Service photo
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