Squamish wildfire grows to 54 hectares, forces evacuation of provincial park

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    Despite constant attacks from helicopters dumping water and airtankers dropping fire retardants onto the flames, the Squamish wildfire exploded in size Wednesday, forcing a nearby provincial park to be evacuated. Cecilia Hua has more.

    By Dean Recksiedler, Charlie Carey

    Campers and day trippers were forced to pack up and leave Alice Lake Provincial Park Wednesday evening, as authorities proactively evacuated the area due to the growing Dryden Creek wildfire in Squamish.

    The fire at the north end of the town grew to more than 54 hectares, from its previous measurement of 20 hectares just hours earlier, as southerly winds pushed the fire front north.

    The District of Squamish says the evacuation of the provincial park was a precaution as the flames have been moving toward its access route.

    Squamish resident Michael Ames tells 1130 NewsRadio that the lack of options to get in and out of some areas of the district has him worried.

    “My wife, son, and I live in Paradise Valley, which is one of the two main valleys on the other side of Alice Lake, about 10 minutes from Squamish. It’s part of Brackendale and Squamish, but it’s definitely quite a different area than the city itself,” he explained.

    Ames says he could hear trees cracking as the flames made the hills glow on Wednesday.

    “The fire is really in between us and Squamish, off the highway, and one of the big concerns is that, the city has been doing a great job with the fire teams and departments, but they seem to be very focused, which makes sense on keeping the fire out of the city’s main areas, which is, of course, good. There’s been very little talk about the concern for the valleys, which are from the city to Whistler, as opposed to away from Vancouver,” he added.

    “So one of our other big concerns is that we have one main driving entrance and exit into our Valley. So if the valley does get cut off from the highway, once the fire spreads a bit, it would be very hard to leave this area. We also don’t have a fire hall that’s close by, and we’re all on wells. So we don’t have fire hydrants or any city fire support within quite a range.”

    The red line shows where the wildfire is in relation to the Squamish neighbourhood of Brackendale on Wednesday. (Courtesy BC Wildfire Service)


    As of Wednesday night, around 50 BC Wildfire Service firefighters and Squamish Fire Rescue personnel were battling the flames. Five helicopters and four airtankers had also joined the fight, with heavy equipment and structure protection working on the ground.

    Ames says he and his neighbours live on densely forested lots, around about 10 acres in size, and have livestock, birds, and other animals that need to be evacuated too, if it comes to that.

    “There’s about 20 of us in our area, and again, with very little outside support resources that can come quickly,” he said, adding that his property is west of the current evacuation alert zone.

    He explains that he and his family have been preparing for days in the event they do need to leave, but hopes that they won’t have to drop everything at a moment’s notice.

    “I can’t have an hour or two’s notice to leave the land without leaving quite a lot of things behind. So that means setting up animals and trailers, putting animals in multiple vehicles, multiple trailer setups, and finding locations that they can safely go,” Ames said.

    “I have high hopes that the fire will be dealt with soon, but it’s hard to judge the information, just because, the city of Squamish being protected doesn’t mean we are,” he explained.

    “It’s quite early in the year for fires. So even if this one gets corrected, then there’s still a big concern, of course, for what the rest of this season holds.”

    You can watch CityNews 24/7 live or listen live to 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver to keep up to date with this story. You can also subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.

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