BC Wildfire Service structure protection assessments for Lladnar Creek Wildfire underway, hand ignitions planned

Jul 26, 2023 | 4:07 PM Wylie Henderson

The Regional District of East Kootenay and BC Wildfire Service say fire growth on the Lladnar Creek Wildfire near Sparwood is being fanned by winds along ridgetops.

The fire is measured at 308 hectares, BCWS incident commander Daniel Cline says structure protection assessments are a priority at this time and resources are being brought over from the St. Mary’s River Wildfire.

An Area Restriction Order to keep the public out of the firefighting area will be activated for the blaze which is highly visible near Sparwood and has prompted an Evacuation Alert for 1,600 residents in the Matevic Road and Sparwood Heights areas.

View an operational update from the Regional District of East Kootenay and BC Wildfire Service on the Lladnar Creek Wildfire below:

The Regional District of East Kootenay has also provided updates for several other active wildfires in the East Kootenay as of Wednesday afternoon.

Find more information from the RDEK below:

UPDATE (July 26, 3:43pm) with info from BCWSRDEK EVAC ORDERS AND ALERTS:• The Evac ORDER for 15 properties in the…

Posted by Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) on Wednesday, July 26, 2023

UPDATE (July 26, 3:43pm) with info from BCWS

RDEK EVAC ORDERS AND ALERTS:

• The Evac ORDER for 15 properties in the Woods Corner East Area has been downgraded to an Evac ALERT.

• All other RDEK Evac Orders and Alerts remain unchanged and can be viewed at www.rdek.bc.ca.

N11805 St. Mary’s River Fire (ʔaq’am)

• 4,093ha was mapped as of Sat morning and the size has not increased since.

• Fire activity remains observed as a smouldering ground fire (rank 1). All control lines continue to hold.

• Small-planned ignitions are planned for this afternoon.

• Ground crews and aviation are working in tandem to detect and suppress hotspots.

• Structure protection work is ongoing in areas of potential concern.

• The BCWS continues to work with local governments on reviewing and lifting evacuation alerts and orders as soon as it is safe and practical.

N12046 Lladnar Creek (west of Sparwood)

• Size: 308ha (Mapped)

• Today, heavy equipment and firefighters are putting in machine guard along the BC Hydro right-of-way at the bottom of the slope. Crews are preparing water-delivery systems and establishing hoselay in critical areas.

• Crews will be looking for opportunities to conduct small-scale hand ignitions.

• Structure protection personnel are on site.

• Aircraft are assisting ground crews today as needed to cool the fire’s edge and slow growth downslope.

• Evacuation ALERTS remain in effect. For details, visit sparwood.ca

N22243 Horsethief Creek (approx. 7km north of Panorama)

• An Incident Management Team (IMT) has been assigned to this fire.

• Ground crews, aviation resources and heavy equipment are continuing to work on control lines to contain the fire.

• Heavy equipment crews are making progress on machine guard on the east flank. BC Hydro is on site working to protect its infrastructure.

• Structure protection personnel, are on site.

N21453 Yearling Creek (approx. 23km east of Radium)

• An IMT has been assigned to this fire.

• Personnel and heavy equipment are putting in guard lines.

• Crews will be looking for opportunities to conduct small-scale hand ignitions.

N22280 Four Points Mountain (East of Windermere)

• Estimated size: 0.009ha

• The BCWS is aware of this new fire and a heavy helicopter has been working on it.

N22240 Mia Creek (northeast of Canal Flats)

• Est: 400ha

• An IMT has been assigned to this fire.

N42102 – Castle Mountain (north of Spillimacheen)

• Est: 68ha and is a modified response fire.

For the most up to date info visit: www.bcwildfire.ca