UPDATED: Evacuation alert for Grand Forks/Christina Lake area lifted
By Kyra Hoggan
The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary has lifted the Evacuation Alert for areas of Electoral Area D south of the Kettle River, Industrial/Ruckle area of the City of Grand Forks, and the Cascade/Ponderosa area of Christina Lake/Electoral Area C.
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Previous coverage:
Canadian firefighting crews who were fighting the eastern flank of the Stickpin wildfire in Washington are back in Grand Forks, according to Southeast Fire Centre information officer Fanny Bernard.
Bernard, who talked to The Source from the Incident Command Post in Grand Forks, said weather conditions forced B.C. crews away from the US fire.
“They were working on the eastern flank, and westerly winds gusting up to 70 km/h made that unsafe, so they were pulled off,” Bernard said. “Those kind of winds create erratic fire behavior.
“They’ve now joined the Structure Protection Unit, to be used in the event of an interface fire here.”
There were originally 48 firefighters sent Stateside, but one unit had already maxed out on time and had been sent home. The Stickpin fire is now roughly 21,638 hectares, is less than five km from the Canadian border, and was first reported on Aug. 11.
Bernard had some good news to offer – concerns regarding wind and lightning from recent weather patterns have not come to fruition.
“The cold front has gone through, and the containment lines have held,” she said. “There’s been no fire growth or reports of any spot fires.”
The cold front has also provided some relief from the smoke that has been blanketing all communities in the valley and brought much-needed rain to many parts of Southern B.C.
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