Fire crews have battled flames throughout Whistler-Pemberton over the past five days after a series of lightning storms swept through the area.
As of Wednesday morning, the crews stifled almost all the fires that popped up in the area since Saturday's violent storm, according to Mike McCulley, fire information officer for the Coastal Fire Centre.
Crews are attacking a Rank 2 fire heavily near Cheakamus Lake in Garibaldi Provincial Park, he said. The fire was trapped underground after a lightning strike but at press time it was about 1.5 to two hectares in size.
"We did use some air tankers on that fire last night," said McCulley on Wednesday morning. "It is on fairly steep ground and it is not burning near to resources. No public or infrastructure is threatened at this time."
McCulley said the Coastal Fire Centre is working closely with the park manager to assess the fire and determine a strategy.
The past five days have been busy for fire crews throughout the province. Extremely dry weather combined with electrical storms led to hundreds of fires popping up throughout B.C.
The thick cloud of smoke hanging over Whistler is from major fires burning in the Interior, said McCulley.
He added on Tuesday that more lightning struck Pemberton Meadows, even though almost no rain fell from the sky.
The electrical storm around 6:30 a.m. caused approximately six spot fires of about 0.1 hectares or smaller.
And smoke also billowed thick Saturday evening as fire crews worked hard to contain 19 forest fires ignited between Whistler and Pemberton following a later afternoon lightning storm.
Four of the blazes were on Blackcomb Mountain, the closest one burning just a kilometre from Whistler Village.
The Blackcomb fires broke out between 4:30 p.m. and 5:45 p.m, as torrential rain poured and the sky was streaked with lightning flashes. Chunks of hail also fell at one point.
Doug Forseth, senior vice-president of operations for Whistler Blackcomb, said the flames sprung up on trees near Tower 5 of Solar Coaster as well as on two trees near the top of Racer Alley off Easy Out.
Another two fires smoldered above Painted Cliff Road on the Benchlands, although neither broke out into flames.
Fire Services teamed up with Whistler Blackcomb to battle the blazes on Blackcomb, while other crews worked on the other fires throughout the corridor.
"We had attack crews ready to go," said McCulley. "Our goal is to always hit hard, hit fast and contain the fires as much as possible in the early stages."
As Saturday's storm rolled in and the lightning began crews on Whistler Blackcomb also made sure everyone on the mountain was safe.
Forseth said when the storm was 100 kilometres away Whistler Blackcomb crews started to calculate when to stop loading people onto the mountain and start encouraging people to download.
"When it got closer, we actually stopped people from loading the lifts because they are a bit of a magnet for lightning," said Forseth.
The other 15 fires that burned throughout the Whistler-Pemberton corridor where spread throughout the upper valley, said McCulley, including Rainbow Mountain.
Another one was reported on Sproat Mountain.
Carmine D'Ascanio, who works as a front desk manager for Four Seasons Resort Whistler, said that around the time the thunderstorm started he saw a small patch of flames on Sproat.
"We were on the front drive and saw them," said D'Ascanio. "It looked like it was one patch, and it wasn't spreading. As the clouds came over and it rained, it just went out."
By the end of the day on Saturday fire crews and helicopters with buckets had managed to stifle the fires on Blackcomb and contained the other ones burning throughout the area.
"Initial attack crews did a phenomenal job on those," Forseth said.
Whistler Blackcomb also enlisted a faller to take down three trees that went up in flames to make sure the fires were totally extinguished, said Forseth.
Now, fire crews continue to carefully monitor the area in case any trapped lightning triggers more spot fires.
"Lightning strikes can hold to the trees and ground and not actually start a fire for hours, days and weeks. That is called hold over lightning," said McCulley. "We have seen hold over lightning as late as 30 days after the initial storm."
Forseth added that Whistler Blackcomb is doing an air patrol of the mountains every evening to make sure no new fires have started.
"We have been doing that for years now," said Forseth. "It is way too important for us not to manage it as best as we can. We use every resource we can think of."
Last year a wildfire burned on Blackcomb Mountain for five days before crews got it under control. The fire was started by a lightning strike in the Crystal Ridge area.
Whistler's fire hazard rating has been at Extreme for almost two weeks. Campfires and open flames are prohibited.
McCulley is also asking the public to report any fires or smoke to the Coastal Fire Centre.
Sometimes people can be reluctant to call, he said, but the Coastal Fire Service prefers more calls then no calls and to err on the side of caution.
"We really depend on the public to help us find fires and when they call our wildlife number that is a big part of our initial attack strategy," he said. "The faster we can learn about smoke and fire, the better luck we have to keep it under control."
The Coast Fire Centre can be reached at 1-800-663-5555.
People concerned about the risk of breathing in smoke should also contact Vancouver Coastal Health authority, he said.
