‘It’s a monumental task’: B.C. Wildfire crews face major fight on Bald Range blaze

The fight against the 15,590-hectare Bald Range wildfire is a “monumental task,” BC Wildfire Service incident commander Hugh Murdoch said during a Monday night emergency briefing, with crews facing a vast fireground and active fire behaviour around Summerland.

Murdoch said the fire started Friday afternoon and exhibited rank 3 and rank 4 fire behaviour within 16 minutes of being reported.

“I would note also that the fire behaviour, and recognizing that this fire went from a very, very small point source, to several thousand hectares between that mid-afternoon start to end of day, really shows the volatility of the forest in this area, and many other parts of the province. It’s indicative of the challenge that we’re faced with,” Murdoch said.

“I would like to point out also that this did not come with a significant wind event pushing this in any real way, it is just the result of conditions that have been building for months and months and months.”

Murdoch said the fire covered 15,590 hectares, with numerous areas of open flame and active perimeter.

He said the western flank was the most active part of the fire, particularly the northwest and southwest corners.

“That’s the result of westerly winds that have brought in what we would call clean or fresh air, so more direct sun onto the landscape there,” Murdoch said. “That growth is why the wind is pushing it west-east, it’s a backing fire, but it is still backing very methodically, there is some decent-sized runs, nothing remotely close to what we saw on the first day, but very good active behaviour, rank four fire behaviour.”

“Currently we have upwards of 99 wildland firefighters on the fire, there’s 120 structure protection personnel that are actively working to do just that, protect structures and critical infrastructure that is threatened,” he said.

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He said conditions had also been difficult for aircraft.

“The conditions with the visibility and the topography makes it extremely challenging, as often times it’s just not capable of flying,” he said.

Murdoch said hazards remain after the initial flame front passes through an area.

“It’s quite a draw on resources because there’s so much area, it’s not just been the build-up of Summerland proper, but the regional area, the outlying areas of the communities where there’s more rural sprawl,” he said.

He said 25 pieces of heavy equipment and eight helicopters were assigned to the incident, with additional resources from the Penticton Indian Band working with BC Wildfire Service crews.

“These numbers fluctuate for a number of reasons,” Murdoch said. “If we get a new start in the area, some of those resources might be tagged on to ensure the next fire doesn’t become the next big challenge. I think we saw an example of that earlier today, there’s a fire just to the east, it was captured at just over one hectare in size with the assistance of initial attack crews that were ready for this right out of Penticton.”

Murdoch said 63 structure protection personnel would work overnight, along with initial attack crews.

“The numbers, both in the day and the night are going to continue to increase,” Murdoch said. “There’s 100 Mexicans joining us, they’ll be on the line tomorrow morning, there’s B.C. unit crews coming in to bolster the night resource response capacity.”

Murdoch said he felt they were adequately staffed for the fire.

“There’s a lot of ground to cover, it’s a monumental task, but we’re putting our best foot forward, for sure.”