Crews from the Coastal Fire Centre managed to contain a fire that broke out in Desolation Sound Marine Park, but not before it damaged a small island.
The fire broke out on one of the Curme Islands on Thursday, August 23. Donna McPherson, fire information officer, said the call came in at about 4:30 pm. “We sent an initial attack crew, an officer and four helicopters,” she said. “They worked the fire that night until they had to leave because it was getting dark.”
The fire covered about half a hectare, McPherson said, and was caused by campers.
Firefighters returned the following day to continue work in the area, she said, and officials patrolled it throughout the weekend.
Grant Lawrence, CBC radio host and the author of Adventures in Solitude: What Not to Wear to a Nude Potluck and Other Stories from Desolation Sound, said he started receiving messages about the fire the day it happened and went there the next day to inspect the damage. “They really scorched a large portion of one of the Curme Islands,” he said. “Friends of mine were in the area and saw great plumes of smoke coming up from the Curmes, which is always a disturbing sign.”
The largest of the islands would be about the size of the Island Sky ferry, Lawrence said. “They’re not huge, but they’re very special islands. They’re very fragile and delicate. The islands are real gems and it’s very, very disheartening to see them damaged in any way by human hands.”
The islands used to be part of private property on Mink Island, Lawrence said, and they were donated to the park several years ago. “Even though the park is very large—it’s the largest coastal marine park on the west coast of Canada—it’s obviously incredibly fragile,” he said.
The fire was smoking days after it broke out, Lawrence also said. “It’s such dry, dry, crunchy conditions, I’d be nervous to even light a match there. It’s a real shame that it happened, but the lucky thing is it was confined to just one of the Curme Islands and it didn’t spread to any major part of the park.”
Moss covers large parts of the land in the park, Lawrence said, and right now it is “very, very dry. What people don’t realize is if they have a fire, they may think the fire is out, but it sometimes gets under the moss and can travel under it. It can spring up in a tree 20 feet away.”
People have to soak a campfire thoroughly, Lawrence said. “Peeing on a campfire or pouring a can of beer over it is not good enough. They really have to soak it and they have to soak the perimeter area as well, a few feet outside of the fire pit, to make sure the embers haven’t spread into the moss.”
The day the fire broke out was a very windy day, Lawrence added. “The winds can carry these fires just like you wouldn’t believe. That played a big part as well; it just got away from these campers.”
Lawrence said he hopes public awareness about the fire danger in the area will prevent any more wildfires in the future.
