There were three human-caused fires in the Terrace area last week.
A fire less than a quarter of a hectare in size was discovered on the west side of Kalum Lake on June 6, a smaller fire was sparked near Hwy 37 north of Kitimat the following day, and the latest small fire was put out on June 10 about nine kilometres northwest of Terrace.
The Northwest Fire Centre was notified quickly about these fires and in turn was able to respond quickly thus preventing the fires from spreading.
The fires combined did not burn more than a hectare and were extinguished quickly.
These fires were human-caused and, with the fire danger rating in the region at moderate to high, fire officials are asking the public to take precautions when burning outdoors.
This includes ensuring that fires are never left unattended and fully extinguished after use.
“Human-caused fires are preventable and human-caused fires take resources away from natufrally caused fires,” said Fire Information Officer Olivia Pojar.
The resources of the Northern Fire Centre have to cover an area from the Yukon border along the coast to Endako and have already responded to 34 fires in the region.
There are still four lightning-caused wildfires burning in remote portions of the Cassiar region.
The Inklin River fire, King Salmon River Basin fire, and the Langhorse Mountain fire are all burning a total of 5,019 hectares southeast of Atlin.
Another wildfire at Red River near Boya Lake Provincial Park has ignited 550 hectares.
None of these fires have shown any considerable growth since they started in late May and are not threatening any structures in the region so there are currently no resources assigned to these fires.
Last week there were five new wildfires in the region including the small fires around Terrace. Another small fire, under a hectare in size, started out of Rio Tinto Alcan to which both the Northwest Fire Centre and the Kitimat Fire Department responded to. A human-caused fire was also sparked on Watson Lake Trail in the Seven Sisters Park.
The ten year average for our region for this time of year is 29 fires, placing this years number five fires higher than normal.
One 20-person unit crew from the Northwest Fire Centre has been deployed to the Cisco Creek fire located south of Lytton.
The majority of the rest of the centre’s resources are deployed throughout the rest of B.C. including all four unit crews, who provide sustained action when fighting fires, and two attack crews who are initial responders to wildfires.