Favourable weather conditions are expected in the area of Fort Nelson, B.C., on Tuesday as the Parker Lake wildfire continues to grow just south of town, fire officials say.
While the fire grew from 53 to 84 square kilometres over the course of Monday, B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) information officer Morgan Blois says previously predicted strong winds did not materialize.
“Those winds were a little bit calmer than expected and moved away from town, taking the fire with it,” Blois said on CBC’s The Early Edition Tuesday morning.
Blois said Tuesday’s forecast shows continued calm as firefighters focus on keeping the perimeter of the blaze away from Fort Nelson. The flames remain about 2.5 kilometres outside of town.
“We are really hoping that we can take advantage of this little lull in fire behaviour, and really get some good suppression done,” said Blois.
Rob Fraser, mayor of Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, which includes Fort Nelson, said Tuesday morning that he’s hopeful that winds will continue to push the fire south, and says it’s still all hands on deck keeping the blaze at bay.
“If the wind comes up, this will be over before anybody can get here, so we’re doing what we can with everything that we’ve got in the community,” said Fraser. “You never have enough when you’ve got a fire pinned down your community this closely.”
Fraser believes there are about 50 people remaining in the community, which was put on evacuation order last Friday.
Mayor Rob Fraser of the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality in B.C., which includes Fort Nelson, says the fire near his community is mostly burning on the west side of the Alaska Highway.
Looting concerns
Fraser said he has also heard of some minor looting in businesses, but is confident any thieves will be caught.
“There’s only one way in and one way out. Nobody’s getting out of here with anything large … because they have to haul it down the Alaska Highway and the police have got the highway blocked off.”
The RCMP said some isolated incidents of property crime have been reported in the area and arrests have been made, and those investigations remain active and ongoing.
“During an interface fire the RCMP will continue to provide regular policing service to all parts of the community as long as it is safe to do so,” said a statement from Cpl. Madonna Saunderson.
“Criminal activity will not be tolerated in any area.”
Saunderson said people with surveillance video capturing criminal activity are encouraged to report it to police.