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The
Squamidian Report – June 14 / 25
Online
Versions
Of This And Past Issues Issue #1203 The Online Issues. ****
Hi Guys. Rosy suggested I let everyone know how it’s going here with the forest fire burning at the edge of town. So, I’m sending out this ‘special addition’ version of the Squamidian. Our first heat wave of the season struck at the end of last week and lasted into the middle of this week. Thank goodness for heat pumps, our house stayed nice and comfortable but it was too hot to do much outside. It was nice to have some hot sunny weather after that cold wet May but too hot too fast is not good, and, the forests tend to dry out way too fast. So it wasn’t much of a surprise that on Monday afternoon some idiots caused a forest fire just up the highway, a scant 2.5km as the crow flys north of us. The forest fire burned up the side of the hill beside the highway and put out a lot of smoke. 4 helicopters and 2 water bombers worked the fire all evening trying to get it under control. By late evening it was thought to be contained but continued to burn. By morning our neighborhood was choked in smoke. We elected to go to the gondola in the car rather than on the bike because I was having a lot of breathing problems due to the smoke. The winds picked up as per usual by mid morning, from off the water, northbound, and that began to clear out our air a bit. The fire was listed as ‘contained’ on Tuesday but not fully under control and 4 helicopters continued to do water drops. By mid day Tuesday our air had cleared out quite a bit due to that wind coming off the Sound and blowing the smoke inland, but that also fanned the flames. The evening saw 2 large water bombers dropping retardant on the fire, and the ‘under control’ term was dropped. By Wednesday morning the fire had increased to 20 hectors and the smoke had again filled the valleys due to the off-shore winds over night. The air was again hard to breath. By mid morning the wind had become on-shore and the coast began to clear. By the end of the day that same wind had fanned the flames a lot more and the fire grew to 55 hectors. To put that in perspective, my grandfather’s farm was a typical farm size of 100 acres. 55 hectors is about 134 acres, so, a third bigger in size than an Ontario farm. The fire growth was to the north, away from town. The Alice Lake camp grounds were evacuated because the road into that area was now under threat. Some media has been reporting that the homes at the north end of town have been evacuated. That is not true. Just the camp ground. The homes in the effected area are under an evacuation alert. That means they must be ready to leave on very short notice. Thursday saw slight growth in the fire, toward the north. The south end is being contained and is being used as a fire break to keep the fire from backtracking into town. There was the possibility for some lite showers that didn’t happen, but it was now overcast and much cooler, the fire activities definitely slowed down. By Friday morning the fire was estimated at 60 hectors in size. The heat wave was definitely over and the sky was mostly cloudy. The wind was still an issue but even that had subsided a bit. Because the terrain drops into a valley just before the Alice Lake Rd, the fire crews will be able to make a stand there in hopes of stopping the northerly advance of the fire. The fire itself will take weeks or longer to be extinguished as the high steep mountainside it is burning is too steep and too unstable for fire fighters to work on. Most hot spots will have to simply burn themselves out. And thats all I know for now. Monday
afternoon, the fire is just getting started and is
already out of control.
Tuesday
morning, as viewed from the gondola cabins. The smoke has
filled the lower parts of the valleys, much like water
filling a bath tub.
By
late morning the smoke has spread. The source is visible
mid pic.
Doug ****
Have
a
Good One ****
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