Crews have made steady progress on the Tsulquate Creek fire, which experienced minimal growth last night, and relatively quiet fire activity today.

A one-hectare spot fire that was within 400 metres of homes has been completely contained. The larger 17-hectare fire has been 20% contained along the south-east flank, which is the portion of the fire that is closest to the community of Port Hardy. Crews are making steady progress on the rest of the perimeter of the fire. A heavy helicopter has worked to cool hot spots on the fire and support crew activity on the ground.

The District of Port Hardy, after consultation with the Incident Management team for the Tsulquate Creek fire, has changed its Evacuation Order to an Evacuation Alert, allowing residents to return to their homes at 8 p.m. today. Local government is cautioning these residents to continue to be vigilant and be ready leave their homes should fire behaviour increase in the future. More information is available online at www.porthardy.ca    

Sprinklers remain in place at the District of Port Hardy water treatment facility.

With the current trend of warm and dry weather, wildfires can start and spread very quickly. The public are reminded to remain extremely diligent within back and front country areas. Human-caused wildfires can divert critical resources and crews needed to fight naturally
occuring wildfires.

For the latest information on current wildfire activity, burning restrictions, road closures and air quality advisories, go to: http://www.bcwildfire.ca

You can also follow the latest wildfire news --

• On Twitter at: http://twitter.com/BCGovFireInfo 
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Media Contacts:

Michael McCulley
Fire Information Officer
BC Wildfire Service
250 949-1200