The BC Wildfire Service is responding to four holdover fires in the Cassiar fire zone.

Holdover fires are fires that under the right weather conditions can flare up from a previous fire that was not fully extinguished.

The fires are a result of overwintering conditions associated with the Alkali Lake fire. The Alkali Lake fire originated seven kilometres northwest of Telegraph Creek and burned over 100,000 hectares of land in the summer of 2018.  

The overwintering fires located on or in the Alkali Lake fire perimeter are:

• R90059 – Located east of the Stikine, approximately 40 kilometres northeast of Telegraph Creek. This fire is less than one hectare and is currently under control. Firefighters are on scene working to fully extinguish the fire.
• R90060 - Located approximately six kilometres up the Muddy Lake Road, 19 kilometres northeast of Telegraph Creek. This fire is less than one hectare and is currently under control. This fire is being monitored and burning near a wet area.   
• R90061 – Located near Mess Creek, 19 kilometres southeast of Telegraph Creek. The fire is less than one hectare and is currently under control. Firefighters are on scene working to extinguish the fire.
• R90066 – Located 10 kilometres southwest of Telegraph Creek towards Glenora. This fire was less than one hectare and is now out.

The term “under control” means no further spread of the fire is expected due to the suppression action currently undertaken.

The Northwest Fire Centre has developed a fire response plan for the Cassiar fire zone to address all holdover fires. The Northwest Fire Centre is fully prepared for the potential increase of fires in the area and will take a proactive approach to the current fire season.

• Firefighting crews are currently stationed in the Cassiar fire zone and will be there on a rotation basis.
• Ongoing overview flights are scheduled for locating fire on the landscape and infra-red scanning will be conducted. This scan will look for potential hotspots that are located beneath the ground's surface or invisible to the human eye.
• Two additional Parattack crews are available and on-call to the Cassiar zone this year.

In addition, the Cassiar fire zone has filled a full-time wildfire technician position.

To report a wildfire, unattended campfire or open burning violation, call 1 800 663-5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cellphone. For up-to-date information on current wildfire activity, burning restrictions, road closures and air quality advisories, call 1 888 3-FOREST or visit: www.bcwildfire.ca