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The BC Wildfire Service is responding to four holdover fires near Telegragh Creek, where last summer’s Alkali Lake wildfire sparked.
Holdover fires are fires that under the right weather conditions can flare up from a previous fire that was not fully extinguished, according to the BC Wildfire Service and the ministry of forests, lands, natural resource operations and rural development.
The fires are a result of overwintering conditions associated with the Alkali Lake fire, located in the Cassiar fire zone.
The Alkali Lake fire originated seven kilometres northwest of Telegraph Creek and burned over 100,000 hectares of land last summer
The overwintering fires located on or in the Alkali Lake fire perimeter are:
The Northwest Fire Centre has developed a fire response plan for the Cassiar fire zone to address all holdover fires.
The Northwest Fire Centre says they are fully prepared for the potential increase of fires in the area and will take a “proactive approach to the current fire season.”
Firstly, officials say that firefighting crews are currently stationed in the Cassiar fire zone and will be there on a rotation basis. The Cassiar fire zone has filled a full-time wildfire technician position.
Ongoing overview flights are scheduled for locating fire on the landscape and infra-red scanning will be conducted. This scan will look for potential hotspots that are located beneath the ground's surface or invisible to the human eye.
Two additional Parattack crews are also available and on-call to the Cassiar zone this year.
(1/2) #BCWildfire Service crews & local FD personnel have responded to a grassfire reported yesterday that is ~12 km south of #Revelstoke.
— BC Wildfire Service (@BCGovFireInfo) April 17, 2019
The fire is now classified as "under control" at 25 ha in size. A crew is on site today to mop up and patrol the fire for smouldering areas pic.twitter.com/MR5VQKZ2z1
Wildfire season has begun in B.C., and officials are urging people to exercise caution this year.
The BC Wildfire Service recently responded to a suspected human caused blaze near Revelstoke.
The BCWS says that both the RCMP and Compliance and Enforcement have been engaged to investigate the fire.
“This serves as a great reminder to use caution when lighting any fire,” they added.
To report a wildfire, unattended campfire or open burning violation, call 1 800 663-5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cellphone.