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Wildfire torches hillside near Rock Creek

No one hurt after area residents halted the flames Saturday afternoon
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Fire Chief Mike Daloise said area residents brought Saturday’s wildfire under control very quickly. Photo: Submitted

A wildfire burned around 10 hectares of scrub-land near Rock Creek Saturday, Oct. 16 — a stark reminder, according to Midway Fire and Rescue, that the West Boundary is still tinder dry a full week after Thanksgiving.

Fire Chief Mike Daloise said the blaze stemmed from a small, supervised fire on a south-facing hill near the intersection of Myncaster and Haynes roads. The fire, twice extinguished by a diligent property owner last week, reignited after strong winds picked up late Saturday afternoon.

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Taking immediate action, the property owner and a small band of area residents stripped combustibles between the fire-line on the north side of the hill and a forest not quite a kilometre away.

Praising their efforts, Daloise noted that the area is so remote and the terrain so rugged that the department would’ve been hard-pressed to deploy its fire engine.

“When we arrived on-scene, it wasn’t accessible. We weren’t going to get near it,” he said.

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No one was hurt, he continued, adding that the fire hadn’t jeopardized surrounding properties.

Warning the general public Sunday afternoon, Daloise said, “This fire is a clear example of how dry the area still is and how important it is to take all precautions with any sources of ignition, especially in the backcountry.”

Campfires and open burns, banned province-wide in late June, have been allowed across the Boundary as of Sept. 10 and Sept. 24, according to the BC Wildfire Service’s website.


 

@ltritsch1
laurie.tritschler@grandforksgazette.ca

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laurie.tritschler@boundarycreektimes.com

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