Wildfire burning near Powell River

A 0.66-hectare wildfire is burning near south Haslam Lake, with fire crews on site.

According to Coastal Fire Centre, the fire is located approximately five kilometres north of Powell River in the southern area of Haslam Lake

“It was detected yesterday (July 3) into the early evening and the current size is just over half a hectare,” said Coastal Fire Centre fire information officer Sam Bellion. “It’s classified as out of control and it is suspected to be human-caused.

“In the early hours of the fire, we had two initial attack crews, as well as two response officers onsite, and they were supported by four airtankers, which were blanketing the area with retardant. That is going to allow those two initial attack crews to go in and work the ground.”

Bellion said that on each of the attack crews, there are four crew members, plus the response officers, so there are between eight and ten crew members at the fire site today. She said it is an active site in terms of personnel.

“Today, they are hoping for the ground crews to get in there and do the work they need to do, so I’m not anticipating seeing any air support for the next few hours, but that can always change, depending on fire behaviour,” said Bellion.

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