A two-hectare wildfire north of McNeil Lake and south of the Suncoaster Trail in Pender Harbour was reclassified Wednesday by the BC Wildfire Service as under control.
The fire was discovered late on Sunday, May 16, according to Coastal Fire Centre information officer Donna MacPherson.
BC Wildfire Service sent an initial attack crew of three people and a helicopter.
On Monday, 18 firefighters were dispatched to the fire, which at the time was classified as out of control. By about 4 p.m., the fire, which remained at two hectares, was classified as being held and by the following day was under control, thanks in part to rain accompanying a cold front arriving in the area.
“Right now the fire is really quiet,” MacPherson said on Tuesday, describing it as Rank 1 or smouldering ground fire. Crews were on the ground mopping up hot spots close to the site’s edges, she said.
McNeil Lake is located about 25 kilometres northwest of Sechelt. Its trails are frequented by hikers and mountain bikers.
Less than one kilometre north of the fire is the Suncoaster Trail.
No residential areas had been impacted by the fire, the cause of which is still under investigation, though MacPherson said the agency suspects it to be human caused.
The lake is the main source of drinking water for the South Pender Harbour Water Service, serving 2,300 residents. A water treatment plant is located near Haslam Creek, west of the lake.
No smoke or fire was visible around the lake or treatment plant on Monday, according to the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s (SCRD) water operations team, and its staff are monitoring the situation.
The water system is running as normal at this time.
The area was the site of a larger fire in 2019. In late June, a fire burned nine hectares at Cecil Hill, triggering an evacuation alert as it crept close to a residential area. Another fire was caused by lightning around the same time at Quarry Lake on Nelson Island.
The area falls outside of the jurisdiction of the fire departments in Pender Harbour and Egmont. Currently, open fires and campfires are permitted in the Coastal Fire Centre.
MacPherson said crews were expected to be walking through the forest Tuesday, feeling for heat underground and strengthening the guard – a perimeter carved out with Pulaski tools, to deprive it of fuel. “It’s very, very physical work and it’s amazing how our crews can work through the area and create that line,” she said.
Crews are expected to continue patrolling the site until it’s declared out.
