The Mount Underwood wildfire has officially become the second largest wildfire in Vancouver Island’s history as it has expanded to cover 3,406 hectares.
The blaze grew by over 1,000 hectares in the last 24 hours alone.
The BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) says the fire displayed moderate behaviour overnight, despite the cooler temperatures and high humidity.
On Thursday, August 14th, BCWS predicted that southwest winds will continue to push the fire in a northeasterly direction.
Crews hope that upcoming lower temperatures and rain will help suppression efforts, as 15 to 40 millimetres of precipitation is expected for the day’s forecast, with more coming this weekend.
“The rain will assist our response efforts, however, it will take significant rain to have a meaningful impact,” said BCWS in their latest update.
Operations
Today’s efforts to suppress the fire will be multi-faceted.
BCWS says that on the north flank, crews will be working eastward from the Alberni Inlet, with heavy equipment creating access for ground crews and building a machine guard.
Objectives today include extinguishing fire that crosses west of Bamfield Main and working to protect structures and critical infrastructure northwest of the fire.
BCWS says that one major priority remains securing the northwest corner and establishing access along the west flank, which is the most accessible for crews at this time.
As for aircraft operations, the dense smoke coverage in the area is continuing to have a significant impact on attacking the blaze from the sky.
Currently, an incident management team is coordinating the BCWS response, and are leading 87 firefighting personnel, 11 helicopters, other aircraft as needed and 14 structure protection personnel.
BCWS is reminding people in the area that the entirety of Franklin River Road between Port Alberni and Bamfield is closed. However, there is no risk to the Bamfield to Youbou road.
There continues to be a massive power outage in Bamfield that stretches as far north as Nahmint and east towards Corrigan Creek.
More information on power outages is available via BC Hydro, and more on road closures is available via DriveBC.
Evacuations
Due to the severity of this wildfire, several evacuation orders, alerts and local state of emergency alerts have been issued by surrounding local governments, authorities and First Nations.
Evacuation orders require individuals within the impacted zone to leave their homes and places of work, while evacuation alerts require people to be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice.
The entire area surrounding Mount Underwood (the Bamfield and Cherry Creek Electoral Areas) is currently under an evacuation order, from Bamfield to just south of the City of Port Alberni. This evacuation was ordered by the ACRD.
Additionally, the Cowichan Valley Regional District has issued an evacuation order for Electoral Area F, which borders ACRD land near Mount Underwood.
Furthermore, there have been three evacuation alerts issued for certain areas that could be at risk. This includes alerts issued by the Tseshaht First Nation, the City of Port Alberni and the ACRD.
(More below)
Air quality
Smoke from this fire is causing or expected to cause poor air quality and reduced visibility.
According to Environment Canada, the regions that could be impacted by smoke include east Vancouver Island (Nanoose Bay to Campbell River), the Sunshine Coast (Saltery Bay to Powell River) and inland Vancouver Island.
“During a wildfire, smoke conditions can change quickly over short distances and can vary considerably hour-by-hour,” said Environment Canada in a special air quality statement.
For more on the current Mount Underwood wildfire situation, click here.
