Fire crews continue to fight “out of control” Valemount wildfire
PRINCE GEORGE – A wildfire broke out on the night of September 20 around 15 kilometres southeast of Valemount, and fire crews have been responding over the week trying to control what BC Wildfire Services classifies as an “out of control” wildfire.
“On Saturday, our crews were somewhat challenged. We had 30km/h winds, so that was difficult to work in those conditions. On Sunday, we were helped out by the weather, we had some precipitation fall on the fire and we also had lighter winds, around the 15km/h range. This morning, also some promising fire behavior, we saw rank one and two fire behaviour, that’s the lowest type of rank that we have. That’s a smoldering ground fire or a low surface fire,” said Fire Information Officer Emelie Peacock.
While the fire remains classified as “out of control,” Peacock adds the rain over the weekend, combined with more rain forecasted on the way, means no substantial fire growth is anticipated.
“We have three initial attack crews from the BC Wildfire Service. We also have one crew of type-two contract firefighters and another type-two contract crew on the way. Our ground crews are assisted by one helicopter that’s doing bucketing operations currently, as well as one piece of heavy equipment, we have an excavator there that is helping the crews to build guard,” Peacock said.