BC Wildfire Service is monitoring a 4,126-hectare fire in Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, in the east of the Southeast Fire Centre.
“It’s burning in both Kootenay National Park and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, so as of Saturday, in order to protect public safety, B.C. Parks, in coordination with the BC Wildfire Service, closed Mount Assiniboine Park to inbound traffic,” said Karlie Shaughnessy, fire information officer for Southeast Fire Centre.
The closure will be in effect until further notice.
The fire was discovered on July 15 and was caused by lightning. Shaughnessy explained that BC Wildfire Service does not have any personnel fighting the fire, but it is being closely monitored.
“The park has a fire management plan, which allows for fire on the landscape as part of a healthy ecosystem, so at this point it’s not threatening any of the main park values or infrastructures or cabins or anything like that,” explained Shaughnessy. “So we’re just monitoring it closely.”
Closer to home, the fire near Deer Creek that was discovered on Thursday, July 20 is 100 per cent contained.
That fire was lightning-caused and is approximately 35 kilometers northwest of Castlegar, but was never threatening any structures or communities.
There are 30 active wildfires in the Southeast Fire Centre.
To date, 166 fires have burned 4,702 hectares this year, 121 of which were lightning-caused. The other 45 were caused by people.
The BC Wildfire Services wishes to remind the public that there is a campfire ban throughout the Southeast Fire Centre and urges the public to follow the ban so that human-caused wildfires don’t “divert critical resources from naturally occurring wildfire.”
The West Kootenay was under a Smoky Skies advisory for approximately a week, but on Monday the Ministry of Environment announced that it had reduced the areas covered by the Smoky Skies Bulletin issued on Monday, July 17, and the areas now covered by the bulletin are North Thompson, 100 Mile, Cariboo (North and South) and Chilcotin.
To report a wildfire or an open burning violation, call *5555 on a cell phone or 1-800-663-5555.
Visit bcwildfire.ca for more information on B.C. wildfires, fire bans and restrictions, and how to prepare for a potential evacuation.