A park operator at Ross Lake, near Hope, was quick to extinguish a fire near the popular campground Tuesday.
Dallas Brown said the fire was at the 28-km mark up the Silver Skagit Valley.
“I noticed black smoke in a cut block access area to my left,” he said in a post on social media. “As I rolled into the road I spotted a highly accelerated fire set in the middle of the road, in a deep wooded area.”
He managed to flag someone down who was coming down the road, and asked them to contact BC Wildfire. He snapped a few photos, and quickly got into action using what he had with him.
“No thinking,” he said. “Just do. I grabbed a shovel and buried the fire as fast as I could.”
Thankfully he was able to get the fire out quickly, and BC Wildfire showed up in a helicopter to follow up and get information from him. He believes the fire was deliberately set, as it was burning very hot and fast. Once it was out, he saw the fire started with a pile of “rubble, wires, metal, and bones from an animal.”
“My thoughts were racing worrying about all of the campers and kids up at Ross Lake,” he said. “Nonetheless I got a ‘thank you’ from the Coastal Wildfire crew that showed up, and it’s my Friday.”
There have been a growing number of small fires popping up around the region in recreational areas. Also on Tuesday night, a fire broke out at Cultus Lake’s Sunnyside Campground, and one man was seriously injured. There is also a fire burning north of Hope along the Coquihalla Highway, at July Mountain. That started on Tuesday as well.
Ross Lake is a reservoir and is almost 40 km long, with most of it within Washington. A small portion of the northern end of the lake is remote but accessible via Silver Skagit Road in Hope.
READ MORE: One man seriously injured as trailer catches fire at Cultus Lake’s Sunnyside campground
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A small fire was spotted by parks operator Dallas Brown on July 13, 2021 up Silver Skagit Road near Ross Lake. He was able to extinguish it and relay the information to BC Wildfire crews who also attended. (Dallas Brown/ Facebook)
