Cooler weather to help Vancouver Island wildfire
Posted August 21, 2021 11:38 am.
Last Updated August 21, 2021 11:39 am.
LADYSMITH (NEWS 1130) — Mother nature is lending a hand as crews continue to battle the Mount Hayes wildfire on Vancouver Island.
The Mount Hayes fire didn’t grow much overnight Friday, and still stands at around 70 hectares near the community of Ladysmith.
Due to more favourable conditions and suppression action by ground crews and helicopters, the Mt. Hayes #BCwildfire (V62669) has not grown measurably since the morning of August 20 and remains at an estimated 70 ha in size. Crews continue to construct control lines and attack… pic.twitter.com/p6qDTnO9BZ
— BC Wildfire Service (@BCGovFireInfo) August 21, 2021
“We’re fortunate in that the weather conditions today, appear to be improved so far. In other words, the winds are much lower today, and we do have overcast skies which means humidity is higher,” said Fire Information Officer Julia Carancy.
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Additional crews are being added into the firefighting team to try to contain the wildfire.
“We do have 39 firefighters, we have seven helicopters, four water tenders, and four pieces of heavy equipment, that will be all working on the fire today.”
Despite the reprieve, Carancy is imploring people on the Island not to let their guard down.
“We are experiencing, in the southern half of Vancouver Island, an extreme fire risk, so the fuels in the forest and the forest itself is very dry. We’re really imploring people to be cautious.”
A small number of properties in Ladysmith are under an evacuation alert, and a nearby Liquified Natural Gas facility run by FortisBC is under an evacuation order.
