SUNDAY MORNING:
Castlegar firefighters continue to actively fight the human-caused Davidson Brook Wildfire on the west edge of Castlegar. The fire is within city limits. The Robson Volunteer Fire Department has also been called in to aid in the efforts this morning.
The fire is estimated to be .3 hectares in size.
This morning, a plume of dark smoke could be seen to the south of where most of the fire’s smoke is visible from downtown Castlegar. CFD confirmed that the dark smoke is part of the original fire as crews are working on putting out hot spots today.
B.C. Wildfire will be supporting efforts today with a helicopter that will fill a water bladder that ground crews can use to pump water from.
Meanwhile, several other small wildfires have broken out in the region including one at Cayuse Creek west of Syringa Provincial Park (.3 hectares) the cause of this fire is under investigation.
There are also fires at Siwash Lake (0.1 hectares) and a cluster of four fires east of Salmo at Hidden Creek and Porcupine Lake. These fires were ignited by lightning.
We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Crews are responding to a wildfire just west of Castlegar.
B.C. Wildfire Service notes the fire was discovered just before 5 p.m., Aug. 5 near Merry Creek. They have labeled it as the Davidson Brook Wildfire.
The Castlegar Fire Department responded immediately and approached the fire from several directions. The Southeast Fire Centre began to send helicopters, fire-retardant bombers, water skimmers and surveillance aircraft within 30 minutes.
Aircraft continued to attack the fire until about 7:15 p.m.
In a 9 p.m. statement, the City of Castlegar said these efforts have been successful in extinguishing large flames and hot spots.
Crews will monitor the fire overnight.
Ground crews, including the Castlegar and Ootischenia Fire Departments, took over at that point.
While an exact cause has not been determined, B.C. Wildfire says the fire is human caused.
Castlegar fire crews have already been busy this week, with a string of suspicious fires.
By Friday morning, Castlegar Fire Department had put out its fifth suspicious fire in less than a week.
Castlegar RCMP have identified a “person of interest” in relation to a number of suspicious fires in the Castlegar area in recent months.
READ MORE: Castlegar firefighters respond to 5th suspicious fire this week