A fire raging out of control on a mountain just north of Nakusp since Wednesday evening had scorched 120 hectares by noon Thursday, with response crews battling it as of morning, BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) reports.
What was first reported as a small, tennis court-size wildfire (0.009 hectares) broke out on Kuskanax Mountain the evening of July 30, catching Nakuspians' attention as smoke billowed from the ridge into the night, about eight kilometres from town.
BCWS has not put any restrictions or evacuation orders in place for this burn in the Southeast Fire Centre, located near MacLeod Creek and two or three kilometres southeast of the popular Mt. Abriel, but is attributing the cause to lightning.
It posted Wednesday evening that it had multiple crews and a response officer en route to begin operations "first thing" the morning of July 31, and shared photos of the fire's tower of smoke.
At 12:45 p.m. Thursday, it reported that the fire's perimeter had been tracked by the response officer, and that its activity was "significantly reduced this morning" as most of its growth happened upon its discovery Wednesday.
"The wildfire remains located in higher elevation terrain, with most of the observed growth to date happening away from the community," BCWS wrote. "Site conditions have been assessed for operable terrain, and a response plan has been developed to guide the work of crews and resources on the ground."
It added that air tankers couldn't engage the MacLeod Creek wildfire Wednesday night due to "significant lightning activity," but remain available Thursday to support BCWS's response.
"The fire is in an area of mixed terrain," Kim Wright of the Southeast Fire Centre's fire information team told Black Press Media by email.
A 20-person unit crew has reportedly been responding to the fire since Thursday, with a heavy equipment strike team also on scene Friday.
"To the west, the heavy equipment team is working to develop machine guard, using an existing road network," BCWS said Friday afternoon, Aug. 1. "Ground crews are constructing handline along the south where terrain limits the use of machinery. On the southwest corner, this handline will connect the machine guard to a burn scar from a 2018 wildfire, helping to strengthen control lines."
However, it noted air attack officers assessment of the fire Thursday concluded that using retardant will be ineffective given the rugged terrain.
"Site conditions have been assessed for operable terrain, and a response plan has been developed to guide the work of crews on the ground," BCWS said in an update at 10:40 a.m. Friday, Aug. 1. "Fire activity is expected to remain reduced through the day as a result of cloud cover, lower temperatures, and elevated relative humidity are forecast. Scattered showers and wet thunderstorms are forecast over all zones in the Southeast Fire Centre by late afternoon."
As of midday Thursday, Nakusp & District Volunteer Fire Department had no additional information to report but was monitoring the situation from town.
The Village of Nakusp posted on social media that "there is no need for concern at this time," and that residents can expect updates via Voyent Alert and the village's website and Facebook.
"Regardless of the situation, people are always encouraged to be prepared by having a grab and go kit ready in their homes," the village added.
It further posted Thursday afternoon that it's working with the Regional District of Central Kootenay to monitor the situation, with RDCK's emergency operations centre aware of the fire and in contact with BCWS despite no recommendations for closures or evacuation orders.
Nakusp Hot Springs posted Thursday afternoon that the fire presents no risk to people travelling to Nakusp, especially with rain in the forecast, and that "there isn't really any smoke to speak of."
The Nakusp Bike Society has publicly confirmed all trails and campgrounds at Mt. Abriel remain open. However, it shared Thursday evening that Turner Road is closed while being used as an access point for BCWS crews, with the first three kilometres up the Mt. Abriel trail remaining open.
BCWS said Friday afternoon "there is no threat to structures or infrastructure at this time," with Highways 6 and 23 remaining open and at no threat of closure due to the MacLeod Creek fire.
Nine other fires burning in Nakusp area
By Thursday afternoon, three smaller fires, all suspected as lightning-caused, had sparked out of control in the wider area east of Upper Arrow Lake.
BCWS reported a new wildfire up near Thompson Creek, within five kilometres southeast of Beaton and two kilometres east of Highway 6, around 10:45 am Thursday. It had scorched 0.23 hectares by 7:30 p.m., with an initial attack crew responding and holding the fire Friday morning.
Another fire was noted right around noon to have broken out on Mt. Steenhoff some 20 kilometres northeast of the MacLeod Creek blaze, in the Halfway River watershed area. This one was bigger, at 0.1 hectares.
Then, shortly past noon, a third fire was identified within a kilometre north of the Halfway River burn, burning at the same size of the Thompson Creek fire.
Efforts to supress each of these fires are reportedly underway, BCWS indicates.
By 12:20 p.m., a fifth wildfire had appeared, around Mt. Steenhoff and several kilometres directly north of the Halfway River fires. It was burning near Halfway Hot Springs, at the size of a tennis court.
A sixth fire had sparked 500 metres away by 12:45 p.m., similar in size.
Four hours later, three more fires had emerged. One was within a kilometre of the Hamling Lakes, at 0.1 hectares.
Another 0.1-hectare fire was burning out of control 10 kilometres north around the Kuskanax Creek watershed.
There was also a 0.01-hectare fire farther north off Sproat Mountain, just across Beaton Arm from Galena Bay.
Around 5:10 p.m. Thursday, BCWS identified a 10th, tennis court-size wildfire near Fitzstubbs Creek, about six kilometres from the northern tip of Slocan Lake.
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