For the second day, crews are continuing to battle a wild land fire estimated to be 10 to 12 hectares in size on Richmond’s Department of National Defence property near Westminster Highway and No. 4 Road.
While Westminster Highway between No. 4 and No. 5 Roads was closed for most of the day, as of 5:30 p.m., it was reopened in both directions.
FIRE UPDATE /#TRAFFICUPDATE - 5:30pm: Westminster Hwy btwn No 4 & 5 Rds has reopened all lanes in both directions. #RichmondFire @BCGovFireInfo #RichmondBC pic.twitter.com/jNHWPunrYk
— Richmond, BC Alerts (@RichmondBCAlert) July 29, 2018
“This is a technical fire and will likely be a multi-day event, with various road closures needed to provide space for equipment and hoses,” said Fire Chief Tim Wilkinson in a press release.
“Those downwind will experience smoke and ash and I urge you to keep windows closed, HVAC systems running, and those vulnerable with health issues should stay indoors out of the smoke.”
Multiple aircrafts dumping water, military personnel, RCMP, Fire-Rescue and excavators were all on scene on Friday to help combat the blaze which on-the-ground crews described as “stubborn.”
Conair Aerial Firefighting 4x Air Tractor 802AF responding to Wild fire at @Richmond_BC Nature Park @bcgovfireinfo @yvrairport #richmondbc #richmondnaturepark #yvrairport pic.twitter.com/QbTGmIwrkp
— Tom Teotico (@tomteotico) July 28, 2018
On Friday, City of Richmond spokesperson Ted Townsend told the Richmond News the fire in the forested, southeast corner of DND property. Townsend explained that smoke could be smelled overnight on Thursday, but the fire could not be located. Fire crews found the fire around 6:30 a.m. on Friday.
“It’s in quite an isolated area. It’s about 1,000 feet away from the closest road and there’s no trails going into where the fire is located,” Townsend said. “So it was difficult to locate and it's very difficult to fight.”
As the fire is not close to any water source, crews have had to run “fairly lengthy hose” to get water to the fire and have had to cut their path to get to the fire.
“They are getting water on the fire now and they do have the upper hand but it’s going to be a difficult fire,” Townsend said, explaining that the fire is now into the peat.
“What happens when you put water on the fire above ground, the fire just sort of goes down into the peat and it pops up somewhere else. So they’ll probably end up having to dig out some of the peat in order to get to all of the fire source and get it out.”
The cause of the fire is also unknown at this point, but Townsend said this also serves as an important reminder to be extra vigilant during the Lower Mainland’s current heat wave.
“We have a lot of problems with fires, particularly from discarded cigarettes. It’s going to get even drier here with the forecast for extended hot weather,” Townsend said. “We just really urge people to be cautious about discarding smoking or other flammable materials.”
