Thanks to the rain, it has been a quiet season so far at the Coastal Fire Centre in Parksville.
A thunder and lightning storm early Wednesday morning failed to ignite any new fires, said fire information officer Marg Drysdale, due to the copious amount of rain that followed.
She said 37.6 millimetres of rain fell in Port Alberni Wednesday — yet other monitoring stations didn’t get any precipitation. The net effect was the same — no new forest fires. Drysdale added they did get a fire call Wednesday morning, but it turned out to be a planned burn and that didn’t last long.
“It has been very quiet,” she said, “and that’s a good thing. We’re happy about that.”
That said, Drysdale added the Coastal Fire Centre will not be lifting its summer outdoor burning and campfire restrictions. That, she agreed, was to get people in the habit of not burning for the time when hotter, dryer weather returns this summer.
Since the fire activity is low in this region, Drysdale said the centre sent 30 firefighters and other operatives to Ontario to help fight forest fires in that province.
