A small wildfire in upper Roberts Creek was declared under control as of 1:09 p.m. Sunday, June 27, with a single BC Wildfire Service crew on the scene Monday doing mop up.
The fire was discovered around 4 p.m. Saturday near the Lower Tube trail on Crown land northeast of the intersection of Lockyer and Grauman roads.
It measured 0.7 hectare (1.7 acres) in size, “less than a sports field,” Coastal Fire Centre information officer Dorthe Jakobsen said Monday.
BC Wildfire Service got the call at 4:35 p.m. and immediately dispatched two air tankers from Kamloops led by a “bird dog” spotter aircraft, two helicopters from Sechelt equipped with water buckets, and 11 firefighters.
The Roberts Creek Volunteer Fire Department also responded and was on standby.
The helicopters drew water from a lake on private property unofficially known to area residents as Randall Lake.
Resident Sean Eckford said he and his wife Teresa were swimming in the lake when they noticed the smoke and called the fire in just after 5 p.m.
The aerial response was “incredible,” Eckford said.
“It was pretty dramatic for the first little bit, but then it calmed down pretty fast.”
At 8:40 p.m., he said, “the choppers have stopped and we can’t see much smoke. It looks pretty much out.”
The cause of the fire is undetermined.
