The Elephant Hill fire is just under 68,000 hectares and still 30 per cent containment, according to Fire Information Officer Claire Allen.
“We are seeing aggressive fire behaviour on the northeast part of the fire,” east of the Chasm, according to Allen.
The fire has not crossed the Bonaparte River at this time, says Allen.
“We have built a machine guard, using heavy equipment as well as hand crews, to build a containment line to the south of the Bonaparte River, in order to do our best to ensure that it does not cross that.”
There’s been significant smoke as well as distinct smoke columns as a result of controlled burns on the Clinton side of the fire, according to Allen.
“To the best of our ability to judge the situation right now, given poor visibility, it has not crossed our containment lines. So it is working as planned, though there are shifting winds in the area so we are monitoring the situation closely.”
Similar conditions are expected tomorrow as today in terms of humidity and temperatures but with some interesting winds, says Allen.
“We’re looking at morning winds to the northeast… 5 to 15 km [per hour], and there should be a switch about midday to northwest winds 10 to 20 km/h. So our crews are going to have to be really aware of those shifting winds in order to be strategically placed in safe locations as well as to meet objectives.”
In the areas that have been in mop-up, closer to Cache Creek and Ashcroft they’re finding fewer and fewer hotspots, but do still have significant personnel in the area to ensure the areas are fully extinguished, says Allen. Additional smoke is expected in the area.
“[We are] putting as many resources as we safely can to try to stop the growth of the fire towards any communities or structures.”
