Rain slows down Vancouver Island wildfire, detour route reopens
CTV
Rain overnight Friday provided some relief for a wildfire burning out-of-control near Port Alberni, B.C., as crews continue to battle the blaze that shut down the only paved roadway connecting the east and west coasts of Vancouver Island.
Rain overnight Friday provided some relief for a wildfire burning out of control near Port Alberni, B.C., as crews continue to battle the blaze that shut down the only paved roadway connecting the east and west coasts of Vancouver Island.
Due to the precipitation, the fire is “not very active today,” Donna MacPherson, information officer with Coastal Fire Centre told CTV News Saturday afternoon. “It's not growing much, but it is growing,” she said.
The Cameron Bluffs wildfire, which is believed to be human-caused, has grown to 208 hectares since it was discovered one week ago.
Currently 76 firefighters, four helicopters and 10 pieces of heavy equipment are working to contain the fire from all four flanks, MacPherson said.
Thankfully, the fire is growing uphill, not toward any inhabited communities or the ancient forest of Cathedral Grove. “It’s just climbing the rock slope slowly,” she said.
The mountainous terrain makes firefighting efforts challenging. “It's an incredibly steep terrain, and it's very unstable ground, so there's lots of rolling rocks and sliding rocks—so it's pretty slow going for crews, right now,” MacPherson said.
Even though there has been some rain, the information officer emphasized that open fire bans are still in place.
