The Wesley Ridge wildfire is now considered "held" by the BC Wildfire Service and sits at 588 hectares, as more evacuees were given the go-ahead to return home on Aug. 11.
“Based on fuel, forecast weather conditions, resource availability, we don’t project this wildfire will go beyond the current perimeter,” said Madison Dahl, fire information officer with BC Wildfire Service. “There was no growth on the Wesley Ridge wildfire yesterday (Aug. 10). The fire displayed mostly Rank 1 behaviour, which is a smouldering ground fire with no open flame.”
There are 186 wildfire service personnel responding, with 11 pieces of heavy equipment and nine helicopters in the area, with air tankers and skimmers in support.
Smokey conditions are expected to persist, as crew operations focus on fire containment and protection of residences and infrastructure.
Containment lines have been established on the east side of the fire and crews have been using drones overnight to search for hot spots in the Little Qualicum River Village area.
Most people who were evacuated from the area have been allowed to return home, with the exception of 37 properties.
There remain 610 properties on evacuation alert, according to Douglas Holmes, the Regional District of Nanaimo's chief administrative officer and director of emergency operations.
“Things are trending in a positive direction at this point in time,” Holmes said. “We want to remind everybody that situations can change quickly and so those who are on alert should be prepared to leave if notified.”
One hundred and thirty people were receiving support through emergency support services at the time of the update on Aug. 11, according to Holmes.
“After a wildfire, people have had a lot of concerning days leading up to this and coming home can be pretty overwhelming," he added. "The area may look different than what it used to look like. Wildfire operations are also still happening.”
Holmes reminded evacuees to be careful when they return to their homes close to the forest. Although the flames may have been put out, there is still smoke and therefore hot places in the woods, he added.
The RDN has established a Resilience Centre at the Lighthouse Community Centre, located at 240 Lions Way in Qualicum Bay, which will be open from 2 pm to 8 pm starting Aug. 12. It will be open through Aug. 15 and extended if needed. The centre will have resoures related to clean up after the fire as well as fire smart education and mental health resource navigation.
The Qualicum Beach reception centre will relocate to that same location at 240 Lions Way on Aug. 12, according to Holmes. He added the group lodging at the reception centre is being demobilized.
As for when the remaining 37 properties will be take off the evacuation order, Holmes said it will be "day to day" in how the RDN determines that.
Cameron Lake, Spider Lake and Horne Lake are all being used for water bucketing to fight the wildfire.
Three regional parks are closed including the Little Qualicum River Park, Arrowsmith CPR trail and Meadowood Park.
The fire is suspected to be human-caused, according to BC Wildfire Servcie, which is working with conservation officers on an investigation.
Anyone with information about the cause of the wildfire can call the Conservation Officer Service at 1-877-952-7277.
