Firefighters continue to battle the Wesley Ridge wildfire near Cameron Lake, with 142 BC Wildfire Service personnel hard at work, supported by local fire departments.
The fire is considered out of control and remains at 389 hectares in size, according to Madison Dahl, BCWS information officer, who added visibility of the blaze is limited due to smoky conditions and the fire perimeter will be updated as visibility improves and more information comes in from the area.
“Overnight last night, ground crews used direct attack to cool the fire in all wild land urban interface areas,” Dahl said during a briefing on Aug. 3. “Overnight operations include two helicopters that have night vision technology, heavy equipment, structure protection and BC Wildfire ground crews.”
The south edge of the wildfire is burning in an “inaccessible and challenging terrain with large amounts of available timber,” Dahl added.
Involved are 65 firefighters, two helicopters, 75 structure protection specialists and seven pieces of heavy equipment. Land-based air tankers and skimmers have also been assigned to the fire, Dahl added.
BCWS is working in a unified command with the Regional District of Nanaimo, with support from the RCMP and numerous Island fire departments.
“Multiple fire departments are involved including Coombs and Dashwood fire departments. They’re engaged in structure protection alongside BC Wildfire resources,” Dahl said.
Much of the structure protection efforts are focused on the Little Qualicum River Village and Park and the north side of Cameron Lake.
Winds have been blowing mainly from the west and northwest, Dahl said, and dry conditions are expected for the next few days, with the possibility of rain on Wednesday.
“We will require a significant amount of rainfall to make significant changes to the fire behaviour,” she said.
No new evacuation orders were announced. So far, 393 residences are under an evacuation order, with a further 238 under alert, according to Douglas Holmes, RDN chief administrative officer. The most recent evacuation was completed shortly after 9:20 p.m. Saturday evening.
“I have to commend the public on what a smooth evacuation that has taken place thus far,” Holmes said.
Evacuees are asked to register online at ess.gov.bc.ca or at the Qualicum Bech Civic Centre, which is currently operating at 24 hours. A small number of people are staying at the centre, Holmes said, but people are asked to stay with friends and family if they can.
To respect the privacy of evacuees, the RDN requests that no one aside from evacuees and emergency support services (ESS) support workers go to the reception centre.
Evacuees can receive and access information, resources and eligible support. The RDN asks evacuees to contact their insurance providers. Most home and tenant’s insurance providers cover living expenses during evacuations.
All evacuation alerts and orders made or rescinded in the region will be shared through Voyent Alert and on the RDN website at rdn.bc.ca/current-alerts. Residents are encouraged to sign up for emergency alerts to receive emergency alerts directly from the RDN through Voyent Alert, visit rdn.bc.ca/emergency-program.
For safety reasons, people are asked to stay out of the area of the fire and to not go on Cameron Lake, operate drones, enter the area on foot or stop on the highway.
Horne Lake and Spider Lake are being used as a water sources for ongoing air support, so residents are asked to stay near the shore or off these lakes and be aware of helicopters active in the area.
When asked if any homes had been damaged by the wildfire, Holmes said that if the RDN learns about a damaged structure, they will work with the homeowner first before releasing information to the public.
“We don’t have any information about that at this point in time,” Holmes said.
Highway 4 remains open and neither it nor Highway 19 are impacted by the fire. Drivers are asked not to stop on Highway 4, and to be aware of the smokey conditions and crews working nearby. For up to date information on closures and road conditions, monitor DriveBC.
