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Pemberton wildfire now under control

Mop-up crews on site
n-web_wildfire_pemby_by_dave_steers_21
Photo by Dave Steers

A wildfire burning near Pemberton is now under control, said officials with the Coastal Fire Centre (CFC).

“It’s in mop-up, which means it’s 100 per cent contained,” said Donna MacPherson of the CFC.

“They’re looking for hot spots, so they touch trees, they touch logs, they look for smoke. If they find anything they dig it up, break it apart, wet it down and rebury it so it won’t come back to life.”

The final mapping of the area — near Reid Road and Portage Road, northeast of Pemberton — had the fire at around two hectares in size.

Crews worked through the night to ensure the fire didn’t spread.

“They hope to have it in patrol by this evening, which means they figure they got all the hotspots,” MacPherson said.

“Then they’ll just go back and periodically check it to make sure nothing is coming back to life.”

The exact cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but MacPherson said it was human caused. CBC, which was on site, reported that it was result of BC Hydro clearing in the area.

The continued hot and dry weather in the Sea to Sky Region means people need to stay vigilant, MacPherson said.

“We’re not seeing a lot of precipitation in the forecast at this point. They figure if the precipitation comes down it will probably just be sucked up by the air, because the air is so dry,” MacPherson said.

“The forest fields are really dry — the big trees and the bush and everything — and it’s going to take a fair amount of water to juice them up again to make them hydrated.”

As of Tuesday there were no all-encompassing fire bans in the area, but people should check with www.bcwildfire.ca before starting any fires to see if that’s changed.

“If people do see a column smoke, please report it,” MacPherson said. “It’s important that we get to them quick right now.”

Firefighters were on scene at the site of another small wildfire south of Pemberton and near the highway this morning.

Wildfires can be reported by calling 1-800-663-5555 from landlines or *5555 from cell phones.