Families prepare to evacuate as fire burns on Sunshine Coasts; firefighters make progress near Horseshoe Bay

SUNSHINE COAST (NEWS 1130) – Seven families are being told to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice as a wildfire burns on the Sunshine Coast.

Donna McPherson with the Coastal Fire Centre says the fire near Pender Harbour is getting closer and closer to homes and other structures.

“Right now we have 24 firefighters and five helicopters, and we have more resources on their way, both ground and air,” she says.

Crews have been battling a number of wildfires in different parts of the Coastal Fire Centre in recent days, with one on the Sunshine Coast more than doubling in size in just one night.

Fire Information Officer Donna MacPherson says the blaze near Pender Harbour is now estimated at about nine hectares in size, and is moving closer to homes and other structures.

“So right now we’ve got 24 firefighters and five helicopters, and we’ve got more resources on the way — both ground and air,” she said Tuesday morning.

An evacuation alert has been issued for several properties close to the wildfire, less than 24 hours after the fire broke out.

https://twitter.com/paulmlbishop/status/1143371196358000641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1143371196358000641&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.citynews1130.com%2F2019%2F06%2F24%2Fwildfire-sunshine-coast%2F

She notes the fire itself is in difficult terrain, along a steep hill and in “very dense forest canopy.”

“It’s burning as a ground fire, so it’s not involving the trees,” she explained. “It’s underneath the canopy of the trees.”

Crews fought the flames overnight, but could not keep it from creeping downhill.

“We didn’t have a lot of wind on the fire last night, which is good. We are seeing cooler temperatures in the area, so that’s helping keep the fire behaviour down.”

MacPherson notes much of the Coastal Fire Centre has seen “pretty heavy drought conditions” recently, and crews are now looking to a weather system change, which will hopefully bring some rain.

There are some showers in the forecast for this week.

Horseshoe Bay fire contained

Meantime, crews have made progress on the wildfire burning north of Horseshoe Bay.

MacPherson says the fire is contained and is being held.

“We’re working to put the fire out,” she added. “Crews were able to walk their way all the way around the fire yesterday, so we do have a mapped size of 4.18 hectares in size.”

The Strip Creek #BCwildfire (V30699) is ~3 ha and is burning 4.5 km south of #LionsBay, adjacent to the Sea to Sky Highway. The highway has been impacted by this fire, and people are encouraged to go to @DriveBC for travel information. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/M6vwi1hMFj

— BC Wildfire Service (@BCGovFireInfo) June 23, 2019

There are currently about 30 members working on fighting this blaze, burning near Strip Creek. The wildfire broke out on Sunday morning on a steep and rocky slope above Highway 99. It snarled traffic on the busy route for some time.

The cause of this fire remains under investigation.

According to the B.C. Wildfire Service, there have been 30 active fires — and six new ones in the last two days.

-With files from Ash Kelly and the Canadian Press