What a difference a week makes.
The number of fires of note in the VanJam Fire Zone has gone from seven to one thanks to the tireless work of fire crews and some cooler weather.
Angela Burford who is with the Australian Incident Management Team told Vista Radio they still have an abundance of resources to draw from.
“We still have around 300 firefighters, we’ve still got fire personnel here from Mexico for a few more days and we still got the Canadian Military assisting in the field so we still have great assets on the ground.”
She added crews continue to do yeoman’s work on keeping the fire activity to a minimum despite the strong ridge of heat we saw over the weekend.
“Even with those warmer days, firefighters have done an amazing job in the field yet again and supported by aircraft who have made sure the fires have not had any activity.”
“Only a couple of days ago we had seven fires of note and now we are down to just one. The Great Beaver Lake, which is northeast of Vanderhoof is still one we are monitoring quite closely with a number of hot spots still burning.”
The Great Beaver Lake wildfire is over 33 hundred hectares in size.
She mentioned the area is also in the process of rescinding an Evacuation Alert for a substantial area south of Highway 16.
With the August long weekend coming up, Burford understands residents want to get away and unwind – but they also need to stay vigilant while outdoors.
“People are looking forward to having an opportunity to relax and switch off, get away, and enjoy the outdoors. But of course, we are still dealing with a very large number of fires and they have burnt through a large area of the landscape.”
While the wildfire season is far from over, Burford notes it’s still key to feel good about how far they’ve come in a short time.
“We need to celebrate the wins because this is such a protracted fire season. People are tired and our firefighters as well as incident management teams have been going for weeks and months in many cases. We need to celebrate those small wins because we have achieved a lot.”
In addition, Ontario has sent more firefighters to British Columbia.
On Saturday, provincial officials said 35 personnel will be going to B.C after the province asked for assistance.
It comes after the news a firefighter from Ontario died on Friday when his UTV rolled over a steep drop on a gravel road.
The 25-year-old is the second firefighter to die in B.C. this wildfire season, a third died while battling a blaze in the Northwest Territories.
Province-wide, there are 356 wildfires burning, 147 of them in the Prince George Fire Centre.
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