The Bear Creek wildfire has been declared a wildfire of note as it grew from 22 hectares to 65 hectares overnight.
The B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) continues to respond to the blaze that was reported early Tuesday (July 29) evening. As of Wednesday (July 30), there are two, 22-person fire crews battling the fire along with a helicopter and two air tankers. The BCWS bucketed the fire overnight using night vision imaging.
Travelers are advised to avoid the area and campers have been evacuated as a precaution. The public is also asked to stay out the Harrison Lake area near Bear Creek for their own safety and the safety of wildfire responders.
"When firefighting aircraft are working on an active wildfire and picking up water from nearby lakes, they need plenty of room to manoeuvre to do their job safely," the BCWS stated. "We urge the public to use common sense and keep their boats well away from areas where air tankers or helicopters operate."
The Bear Creek wildfire is by far the largest the Agassiz-Harrison area has seen this year. There are currently no evacuations or orders in place except for the campsites near Bear Creek.
The BCWS believes the fire to be human-caused.
Despite significant visible smoke drifting from Bear Creek out across the Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver areas, Metro Vancouver officials state air quality is expected to remain good for the next two days. The smoke from Bear Creek and Washington State are not currently at ground-level, meaning lower elevations are not expected to experience a drop in air quality at least for the next few days. Conditions, however, can change quickly.
"Weather will remain sunny and hot today and tomorrow," reads a statement from Metro Vancouver. "Staff are closely watching conditions since fire behaviour can change quickly.​"
More to come.
– With files from Jennifer Feinberg
