The Lumby Chamber of Commerce and the village said thank you to firefighters in a unique way Thursday.
The chamber hosted an outdoor dinner and movie night at an impromptu theatre-dinner setting at the corner of Highway 6 and Rawlings Lake Road for firefighters, members of the Canadian Forces who have been helping out with the fires and support volunteers.
RELATED: Troops heading to Lumby to lend a hand with wildfires
“Big thank you to (executive director) Stephanie Sexsmith and the chamber for putting all the business contributions together and bringing volunteers together to provide a wonderful night of food treats and a movie,” said Mayor Kevin Acton in a Facebook post.
Word is, the guests of honour were treated to a comedy film.
UPDATE ON MONASHEE COMPLEX FIRES FROM https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status
The Monashee Complex has three Fires of Note: Mabel Creek, Sugar Mountain and Harris Creek.
These fires are in full response sustained action. The remainder of the fires burning in the Monashee Complex are either full response monitor-only fires or as full response – modified fires.
Priority fires are assessed and evaluated based on their potential threat first to lives and safety, second to property
and third to values like critical infrastructure and industry interests.
RELATED: Work continues on Monashee Complex wildfires
The potential for aggressive fire behaviour exists due to continued drying over last 10 – 17 days. Expect the inversion to
break near 25 degrees Celsius in the early afternoon, this may cause localized erratic winds effecting fire behaviour.
Complex details
HARRIS CREEK (K41800):
We are anticipating the Canadian Armed Forces to start working on the Harris Creek fire Thursday morning. As a result, we are preparing the fire to be in a stage of control that will allow the Armed Forces to conduct patrol and mop-up operations with BC Wildfire Service personnel.
There are 34 personnel on site today that are being supported by five pieces of heavy equipment and heli-bucketing as
required.
MABEL CREEK (K41813):
Good progress continues on Mabel Creek wildfire Wednesday. Machine guard continues to be constructed to support ground crew’s direct attack and mop-up where the fire comes down to the guard. There are 16 personnel on site today that are supported by seven pieces of heavy equipment.
SUGAR MOUNTAIN (K41791):
This fire remains in monitored status and has no resources onsite.
WOODWARD CREEK (K42705):
If conditions remain optimal, BCWS will be conducting additional hand and aerial ignition operations on this
wildfire. The objective is to remove all unburnt fuels between the fire guards and the active fire edge on the east and
west flanks, in order to reduce fuel between the fire guard and the fires edge. This planned ignition will be visible from
the highway and surrounding communities. This wildfire is approximately 120 hectares, but we are anticipating its size to
increase once the burn operation is completed. We have 23 personnel on site that are supported by 10 pieces of
heavy equipment.
SPROKTON CREEK (K42448):
This wildfire is responding well to suppression efforts and is now classified as being held. Eleven (11) personnel continue
working to mop-up (extinguish hot spots) within the fires perimeter. One water tender remains to assist suppression
operations.
*There are five helicopters assigned to this entire complex and will be used interchangeably between wildfires,
depending where they are needed.
There is an Area Restriction Order along the northeast side of Mabel Lake and a closure along the Mabel Lake FSR to all
recreation traffic from Km 10 (north the Mabel Lake Provincial Park) to Km 59 (at the junction of Highway 1) and all
recreation sites along that road.
There is an Area Restriction Order on northeast side of Sugar Lake, the Sugar Creek recreation site on the North-East corner of Sugar lake, and the Kate Creek FSR access road.
The exceptions to these Area Restrictions are those persons entering the area only in the course of:
(a) Travelling to or from his or her principle residence, that is not under an evacuation order;
(b) Travelling to or from private or leased property for the purposes of accessing a secondary residence
or recreational property, that is not under an evacuation order;
(c) Travelling as a person acting in an official capacity;
(d) Travelling for the purpose of supporting wildfire suppression activities; or,
(e) Engaging and/or participating in agricultural activities pertaining to livestock management on private
or leased property.
The BC Wildfire Service is preparing for burn operations to take place this week, if conditions are deemed ideal. When
the decision is made to conduct burning operations, the fire is usually beyond the initial attack stage. Burning operations
are always conducted with the goal of removing the majority of available fuels so that the fire has nothing left to burn.
Before planned ignitions can be carried out, environmental conditions such as weather, terrain, fuel loading and
potential fire behaviour are always considered.
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