A photo shared by the BC Wildfire Service on Facebook has garnered a lot of attention, with over 1,700 reactions and just under 600 shares.
“I think the reaction is definitely just a sign of the wildfire season we’ve had and the relief that communities are now getting,” said Claire Allen, BC Wildfire Service information officer for the Shovel Lake wildfire. “We are reaching containment and changing the status of some of these fires to ‘being held’ and with that being able to lift some of the evacuation alerts and orders.”
The picture shared on Sept. 1, is of the Stormriders Unit Crew based out of 100 Mile House and currently working on the northeast corner of the Shovel Lake wildfire (roughly 514 kilometres northwest of 100 Mile House).
The wildfire is now classified by the Wildfire Service as “being held.”
Discovered on July 27, the wildfire is now at 93,255 hectares with most of its activity on the northeast and southeast corners, where crews have been working on fortification and cooling the fire. Right now, most of the work is consisting of mop-ups and patrolling the active flanks, extinguishing hot spots around the perimeter.
On Sep. 2, the District of Fort St. James rescinded a three-week-old evacuation alert. The alert covered just under 900 properties.
There is still an area restriction on Crown land in the vicinity of Shovel Lake.
