Wildfire on Mount Seymour in North Van sees little growth overnight: officials
Posted July 13, 2023 2:44 pm.
Last Updated July 13, 2023 4:30 pm.
Officials say the wildfire burning on Mount Seymour in the District of North Vancouver is responding to firefighting efforts.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Seymour River fire was still listed as 0.3 hectares. It was discovered Wednesday afternoon.
Brant Arnold-Smith, emergency operations director with the Metro Vancouver Regional District, says there was little growth overnight as a result of fire suppression efforts.
“There’s been visible improvement with smoke throughout the morning and into this afternoon,” he said just after 2 p.m.
Wildfire crews are working diligently to suppress a fire in the LSCR. The wildfire grew minimally overnight. This event underscores the importance of being vigilant — please report any fires to 9-1-1. @NVanDistrict @BCGovFireInfo pic.twitter.com/fNf57ntGcD
— MVRD Emergency Services (@metrovanemerg) July 13, 2023
“Crews are currently working diligently to suppress the wildfire. The focus of today’s efforts really were ground crews identifying and targeting hot spots.”
He says regional crews are working alongside members of the BC Wildfire Service and District of North Vancouver Fire.
Ground crews were also supported by helicopters, which dumped water on the fire.
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According to Arnold-Smith, the fire is burning is in a “very rugged, secluded area,” with a lot of hiking through thick brush required to reach the site.
“Crews continue to conduct danger tree assessments and danger tree felling operations,” Arnold-Smith explained. “The fire is burning quite deep and it has affected the stability of trees on the site. So our crews are working slowly and cautiously dealing with those hazards.”
He says safety is paramount, adding assessments are critical before crews move on to other operations.
“This event really underscores the importance of being vigilant right now. The ignition sources can start a wildfire in our region. Everything is tinder dry. We want to urge the public to report any fires to 911,” explained Arnold-Smith.
“Natural events like lightning and also human-caused fires, such as those from ignition sources, really pose a risk to our greenspaces and our regional parks during this hot, dry weather. We haven’t seen any rain since June 19. So it’s been almost a month of just no precipitation in the region.”
Cause of North Vancouver wildfire still under investigation
The cause of the wildfire continues to be under investigation. Arnold-Smith says officials are not ruling anything out, including the possibility that the fire was sparked by lightning.
“Official reports from ground crews, as well as helicopter pilots, who were first on the scene to this wildfire yesterday indicated that they saw evidence of a lightning strike on a tree. So that led us to believe that this was caused by lightning in the area. We don’t want to rush to that conclusion, we want to make sure we’re exercising our due diligence throughout the investigation and really narrow down the cause based on evidence that our firefighters and BC Wildfire Crews see on scene,” he explained.
Significant aerial and ground resources have been brought in to suppress a wildfire in the LSCR. Thanks to the diligent work of response crews, good progress was made and the fire has responded to suppression efforts and is not spreading. pic.twitter.com/nBwBYZq9Bh
— MVRD Emergency Services (@metrovanemerg) July 13, 2023
“It is not uncommon for a lightning strike to occur and, days later, depending on the conditions, the lightning strikes having a small smouldering fire that hasn’t been noticed deep in a gully suddenly spark up and ignite into something larger. So it’s not unheard of and it is common. B.C. received quite a few active lightning strikes over the past few days and over the weekend, and up in the 20,000 mark.”
Arnold-Smith notes the fire is located in a “remote area in a gully,” where it’s rare to find people. However, he says crews are “not ruling out” the possibility the fire was human caused.
The regional district and officials are urging people to be vigilant and extra cautious when outdoors, especially given the dry conditions.
