Firefighters battling along the Wesley Ridge wildfire are dealing with a blaze that has roughly 150 per cent more fuel to burn through compared to normal.
Rory Colwell, fire behaviour analyst for BC Wildfire Service, pointed to "evidence of drought", and said the conditions are causing the fire to spread to areas and in ways not normally seen.
鈥淵ou can see how dry and crunchy the ground is," Colwell said in a posted the evening of Aug. 4. "Some of the logs that we鈥檙e seeing of this size out in the forest are showing as low as 10 or 12 per cent moisture content.鈥�
As of 11 a.m. on Aug. 5, the fire remains at 511 hectares in size. More than 200 firefighting personnel are responding, assisted by seven helicopters, as well as land-based air tankers and skimmers, and eight pieces of heavy equipment.
Overnight, ground crews and structure protection teams patrolled wild land urban interface areas and extinguished hot spots.
Operations continue to prioritize the protection of homes and critical infrastructure, according to BC Wildfire Service.
The northwest area of the fire is displaying the most activity, burning at Rank 2, which means a low vigour surface fire with some visible flame. On the southern edge of the fire along Cameron Lake, the fire is burning in inaccessible and challenging terrain where plenty of fuel is available.
Numerous fire departments from across Vancouver Island are assisting BC Wildfire Service, including the Coombs-Hilliers and Dashwood volunteer fire departments.
Dashwood crews got to work early in the morning, with the focus on putting out hot spots and structure defence, according to Fire Chief Nick Acciavatti.
The department also staged a mass water delivery unit, which has a large volume pump and several kilometres of hose.
Winds are forecast to blow from the west and southwest, gusting to 30 km/h. Although conditions are cooling down this week, precipitation is expected only in small amounts and the wind expected to "remain elevated", according to BC Wildfire Service.
