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A forest fire near Port Alberni, BC, is growing rapidly out of control and has more than duplicated in size in less than a day.
The forest fire of Mount Underwood, which now measures almost 14 square kilometers, is found just over 10 kilometers south of the city of Vancouver, which houses around 19,000 people.
Some 300 people were evacuated on Monday from a nearby camp and a sports port, and the regional district of Alberni-Clayoquot (ACRD) issued a new evacuation order on Tuesday for the Mount Underwood area, including parts of the electoral areas of Bamfield and Cherry Creek.
The order said that the forest fire is a “threat to those in the evacuation order” and is “surrounding the main road of Bamfield and making it impassable.”
A 24 -hour reception center was established at the Athriani Athletic Hall, according to Emergencyinfobc.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the ACRD said that 50 properties were subject to order, a mixture of commercial, industrial and recreational properties.
A regional district spokesman had previously said CBC News that most were recreational, and the authorities said some of the properties included long -term camp sites.
Around 3:40 PM PT, an additional evacuation order was issued for five residential properties to the southeast of the fire in the Lake Cowichan area, with evacuees that were told to go to Cowichan Lake Sports Arena if they needed help.
The fire has also eliminated energy for more than 500 hydroelectric customers in the Bamfield community, according to the public service company interruptions.
“The power will probably come out for at least 72 hours, probably more,” Huu-Ay-Aht Coun in the head of the first nations. John Jack, president of ACRD, said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
“Therefore, people will have to take the steps they need to manage their own families and verify their neighbors.”
Fire grows rapidly
The fire was discovered on Monday and grew rapidly throughout the day, globalizing from around 50 hectares at 7 pm PT to 630 hectares (6.3 square kilometers) three hours later.
It was reported as 859 hectares (almost 8.6 square kilometers) on Tuesday morning and then 1,391 hectares (almost 14 square kilometers) from the update of 1:45 pm of BC Wildfire, more than three times the size of Stanley Park in Vancouver.
An aggressive forest fire detected on Monday night has forced up to 300 people to flee from a camp near Port Alberni. The BC forest fire service says that the Mount Underwood fire is showing aggressive behavior, which forces a close closure of the road. Meera Bains informs.
“It became huge,” Jack said when he spoke on CBC’s On the island Tuesday morning.
He pointed out that the fire has become larger than the nearby Wesley Ridge Fire was at its peak.
The road between Bamfield, an unproceded community with approximately 300 residents throughout the year, and Port Alberni is closed in both directions due to the forest fire, according to DRIVEBC.
Jack said that people who use Cowichan are advised if they need to reach the Bamfield area.
Christi Howes, fire information officer at BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) said there are no threats for Port Alberni or Bamfield at this time, but emphasized the need for people who are not residents to stay away from Bamfield.
“We do not want to add any additional pressure to the community by having additional people trying to get there, either by road or by path,” he said.
Aggressive fire behavior
On Tuesday, the BCWS said the fire was showing the fire behavior Rank 4 and Rank 5, which means that it was an extremely vigorous surface fire and burning at the top of the trees.
In an update later on Tuesday afternoon, Julia Caranci of the BCWS said that the aggressive fire behavior was unusual for Vancouver Island.
“On the island, we tend to have the moderating winds that come on the coast from the ocean, which tend to moderate fire behavior,” he said.
“I would say … that in the seven years that I have worked for the Coastal Fire Center, I don’t think I have seen a fire like this on Vancouver Island.”
Caranci said that the strong winds through the entrance of Alberni had caused the “type of explosive growth” of the fire uphill on Monday, and the area had had very little rain since the end of June.
“What we are seeing are incredibly dry conditions, which we would not normally have for this prolonged period of time,” said the fire information officer.
“And that is combined with a very steep terrain where this fire and strong winds are and how hot it is.”
Jack said the residents of Bamfield and Anacla, a community of the first Huu-Aht nations, are resistant and are used to restrict access.
“Being separated from the Port Alberni area is always a slightly worrying situation for them, but they are not strange in the use of gravel roads to get where they need to go,” Jack said Tuesday morning.
“That said, power is out, and is out indefinitely. And that is perhaps the most worrying.”
In an update of 7:15 am on Tuesday, BC Hydro said a crew had been assigned to the interruption, but did not give time when the power can return. He has been down from 6 pm on Monday.
Jack recommended that residents were prepared by making a “72 -hour kit”, having a plan to remain in their place and monitor verified sources of information.
Howes said structural protection has been implemented for private camps, factories and trunks classification facilities in the area.
She said the teams expect wind and rain in the forecast.
“It is a dynamic situation and we will be observing the climate very closely,” he said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The Mount Underwood fire grows just after the Wesley Ridge fire, burned northwest of Nanaimo, was degraded from “out of control” to “be retained.”
Howes said Wesley Ridge’s fire remains “with adequate resources.”
