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The recent rainfall and cooler temperatures continue to limit growth on the fires within the Cariboo Fire Centre.

The break in weather has provided firefighters with the opportunity to increase guard construction and reinforce contain-ment on all fires.

Temperatures are expected to remain slightly below seasonal for the next few days. Approximately 1500 personnel are actively involved in suppression efforts in the Cariboo fire Centre, three-quarters of which are from BC.

These wildfire photos were reported to be taken in the Alexis Creek area in the middle of August , 2010.

(Thank-you to the reader who submitted them.)

See more HERE

The recent rainfall continues to limit further growth on the fires within the Cariboo Fire Centre. The break in weather has provided firefighters with the opportunity to increase guard construction and levels of containment on all fires.

There is potential for elevated winds this afternoon with the risk of lightning; however, the Cariboo Fire Centre is pre-paring for this cold front and is taking the necessary precautions.

The Cariboo Fire Centre wants to stress that the number of firefighters has not decreased and fire crews continue to be backfilled. Currently, 1701 personnel are actively involved in suppression efforts; three-quarters of which are from BC as required.

It was good news all around at today’s fire briefing, although the BC Forest Service did state that some area fires will not be called ‘out’ until the season changes and that the weekend weather offered relief but did not end the fire season. Weather conditions are also expected to become warmer and drier. 

The weather over the weekend allowed fire fighters to regain some ground, and important fire lines were built and maintained. Fire fighters were able to get right in front of the fires instead of watching walls of flame. 

 With clear skies today, air operations can resume safely and immediate threats to communities and fire fighters has decreased. 

In Pelican Lake, fire #205 is burning at 33,000 hectares and is 20% contained and fire #299 is 24,000 hectares and is 10% contained. Good progress was made on both fires yesterday and fire fighting conditions are expected to improve further today. Some fires were ranked at 3 out of 6 yesterday and Cat guards are continuing through today, along with the establishment of fire control lines. The RCMP have left the area and new security arrangements are being put into place for new road restrictions. 

Meldrum Complex, BC – Several downgrades have been made to the Evacuation Orders and Alerts for the Meldrum Complex, effective 10 a.m. today.

All Evacuation Alerts on the east side of the Fraser River have been rescinded.

The Evacuation Alert for the area within the boundaries of the City of Williams Lake has been rescinded.

BC Forest Service said this morning that yesterday was another good day for fire suppression. There was both rain and showers in varying amount, but it was stressed that the rain is not going to put the fires out—the size and scope are too big. Seasonal changes will put the fires out. Excellent progress was made yesterday, however, and important guard lines were laid. The fires have slowed, allowing fire fighters to get ahead of them. Lightning was reported yesterday as well, but accompanied by rain, only resulted in two new fire starts. 

As anticipated, the smoke is reduced today, but BC Forest Service said that tomorrow the temperatures are expected to rise again and more smoke in the air can be expected. The high ridge of weather will not be as strong as last week, and next week looks favourable for fire fighting ground operations. 

The Place Lake fire complex is now 100% contained and the two fires in the Long John complex are 90% and 85% contained.