“The fire is creating so much smoke, it’s quite hard to ascertain an accurate size at this point, just because of the wind and the conditions in the area”.
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The fire started on Sunday afternoon and quickly grew, producing heavy smoke throughout the popular recreational area.
The Harrison Lake fire was one of 140 wildfires actively burning Monday, a total that included 11 new fires reported the previous day.
There are 70 firefighters and four helicopters fighting the 45-hectare blaze on the west side of Harrison Lake. The fire is now spreading northward away from the community of Harrison Hot Springs. “Right now we don’t need any more human-caused fires”.
Campers at the Wood Lake Recreation Site to the southwest of the fire and the 20 Mile Bay campsite to the north have already been asked to leave.
The behemoth Martin Mars water bomber has been dropping water on the blaze for the last two days, alongside a crew of air tankers dropping retardant, to no avail.
“This area is in high fire danger rating and this fire was human-caused and preventable”, said MacPherson.
“It’s particularly disappointing to see human-caused fires, especially when we are seeing a season as busy as what we’ve had so far in 2015”.
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The fire is now classified as Rank 4, meaning it is aggressive, but still mainly on the ground with short aerial bursts.
