The Incident Management Team managing the Eagle Bluff wildfire (K52318) located west of Osoyoos has two areas identified for ignition operations set to occur as early as this afternoon and into tomorrow.
The team is coordinating response efforts with the U.S. Incident Management Team managing the fire on the U.S. side of the border and ignition operations began along the western flank of the fire yesterday.
The ignition operation is for the area between Nighthawk Road, following existing road networks into Canada, where it will be tied into Frank Lake and then run adjacent to Highway 3, along the base of the slope. The ignition operation on the U.S. portion is now complete and crews will be continuing the ignition on the Canadian side today.
The second area is around the Kilpoola Estates area where the fire experienced growth on the north flank yesterday afternoon due to winds. Properties in the area are not currently threatened. As a result of this growth, the we are planning to conduct ignition operations on the north flank of the fire, as early as this afternoon.
Heavy equipment is opening up the Old Richter Pass Road which will be used as a control line and sprinkler systems will be activated to support the ignitions.
Crews will be starting on the northeast corner from the retardant line working off Highway 3 and will then work their way around to the north flank.
This ignition operation will be an extension of the ignition operation that was initiated along the west flank of the fire.
Highway 3 may be partially closed this afternoon as crews and equipment work off the highway to conduct operations. For the most up-to-date information regarding road closures please visit www.DriveBC.ca . For the safety of personnel working on the fire, please drive carefully through the area.
Overall, the planned ignitions will cover up to 1,800 hectares where the fire is burning in steep and rocky terrain that poses safety risks to crews and heavy equipment.
The ignition operation will be conducted by a combination of hand and aerial ignitions with support from ground personnel, structure protection personnel and aerial resources.
The purpose of the planned ignition is to remove unburnt fuel in an intentional way to secure the control line and achieve containment on the north and west flanks of the fire. Based on current conditions this unburnt fuel has the potential to burn on its own in a significantly more active way. These ignition operations will be conducted throughout the day today and possibly tomorrow and will only proceed if site and weather conditions are favourable.
For additional information regarding these planned ignitions and response efforts on this incident: https://wildfiresituation.nrs.gov.bc.ca/incidents...
The image shows the updated fire perimeter on the B.C. side of the border. Due to the growth, the areas identified for planned ignition operations have been updated to reflect this growth.
No comments:
Post a Comment