Two small fires are burning underground on Vancouver Island.
Ten firefighters worked overnight Monday trying to control a small underground fire in North Tahsis, about 30 kilometres southeast of Port Alice.
“The fire was reported late Sunday afternoon,” said Donna MacPherson, fire information officer with the Coastal Fire Centre. “It’s basically smoking ground with a bit of open flame. Occasionally, tufts of grass or dry materials on the surface catch fire.”
Firefighters are also keeping an eye on an underground fire on Cherry Creek Road near Port Alberni that has been burning for some time.
“It’s under control, but firefighters found some heat there a couple of days ago,” MacPherson said. “They wanted to keep it on the map and keep having a look.”
The North Tahsis fire is 0.3 hectares in size.
The soil layer is very deep in coastal areas of B.C. The large trees found here, with their big roots, can act as a conductor for underground fire.
“Once the fire goes underground, they have to go digging for it,” MacPherson said.
Crews excavate by hand using a pulaski — a specialized tool that combines an axe and an adze in one head. It is used for constructing firebreaks.
“In the hands of a strong firefighter, it’s amazing how far down they can go with one of those,” MacPherson said. “They may have to dig up a root system on a tree by hand or they may go after the smaller shrubs. They’ll dig up the hot material, break it apart, wet it down and rebury it.”
The crew in North Tahsis is going around the perimeter of the fire, excavating a control line. They’ll clean out the roots so the fire can’t travel across it, she said.
The North Tahsis fire was probably started by a lightning strike from the storm that passed over Vancouver Island a few days ago.
Firefighters are still doing patrols from the ground and the air in case other fires are burning from the lightning strikes.
There’s a 20 per cent chance of more lightning on Vancouver Island today, MacPherson said.
Vancouver Island remains under a “high” danger rating for fire, other than a small area near Barkley Sound on the west coast, which is considered “moderate” because of the foggy marine conditions.
Some of the Gulf Islands remain in the “extreme” danger category.
“The risk increases as we go forward,” she said.
A small fire at Atluck Lake, west of Woss, has been extinguished. A fire at Caycuse, near Port Renfrew, has also been declared out.
“It’s amazing. The crews are getting to these fires fast and they’re getting them out quickly,” she said. “Even though we’ve got two fires on Vancouver Island, apart from the one near Port Alberni, the fires are coming and going.”
ldickson@timescolonist.com
cjwilson@timescolonist.com
