Coastal Fire Centre Information Officer Donna McPherson says the 4.5 hectare fire, 20 kilometres northwest of Harrison Hot Springs, is believed to be human caused.
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“There’s an bad lot of wind in the area, it’s gusting quite heavily so that’s pushing the fire forward quite a bit”.
Strong winds on Monday and overnight have helped dramatically expanded the size of the wildfire, burning in a popular recreation area near Wood Lake.
The human-caused Wood Lake fire is now estimated at 600 hectares, up from 100 on Sunday afternoon, and firefighters have been unable to make any progress on containing it.
A fire and a subsequent explosion at a former air-raid shelter in the northern German city of Hamburg where plant oils were being stored left 43 people injured on Tuesday, authorities said.
Air tankers, including the famed Martin Mars bomber, attacked the blaze Sunday, dropping water and retardant.
The fire isn’t threatening any homes, but Mounties have blocked off the road and asked people to leave nearby campgrounds.
The fire is 20 kilomtres north of Harrison Hot Springs and it’s zero-percent contained.
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“It’s an area of fairly high fire danger rating and it’s also a highly used recreational area”, she notes. “To have to divert resources and personnel, and expose ourselves to risk, to address a preventable human-caused fire, is certainly disappointing”, Skrepnek said. Three helicopters and more than 70 personnel were fighting the fire on the west side of Harrison Lake, said MacPherson.
