The Riley Creek wildfire south of Lillooet is seeing a modified response due to it burning in unsafe and inaccessible terrain.
The BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) provided an update about the wildfire on Monday, June 29, at 4:19 p.m.
The fire (number K70659), was discovered on June 24 and remains out of control and sized at 50 hectares. The suspected cause of the fire is lightning.
BCWS provided a detailed response update on June 29.
They say the wildfire is about nine kilometres south of Lillooet and is burning upslope into rocks and snow at high elevation.
The wildfire service says the burn area is “incredibly” steep, rocky and unstable.
“As it is burning in unsafe and inaccessible terrain, a modified response is being used to manage this wildfire. Due to the terrain, this is a common response strategy in the region.”
BCWS says responder safety is their number one priority, and they will not place staff in an unsafe environment.
“As there are currently no safe areas to anchor crews or resources, the fire is being monitored by frequent flights and continually assessed for achievable objectives.”
The wildfire service says that, if the fire moves downslope into a more accessible area where achievable objectives are identified, crews will be placed where suppression activities can happen safely.
The fire has mainly been burning at Rank 1 and 2, meaning a smouldering ground with some visible open flame, but overall a small rate of spread. Wildfire rank information can be found here.
BCWS says that more smoke is likely to be observed on days where the combination of stronger winds and a rise in temperatures have increased fire activity.
The wildfire service says helicopters assigned to the incident are reconnaissance machines and not actively bucketing.
“While aircraft are a highly visible part of wildfire response, they do not put out wildfires alone. Helicopters can help support crews in many ways, for example; by bucketing on hot spots to cool fire behaviour ahead of where crews are working. However, bucketing alone very rarely is enough to extinguish a fire when ground crews are not present.”
To contact the Kamloops Fire Centre, call 250-554-5965 or email KFCINFO@gov.bc.ca.
READ MORE: Wildfire near Lillooet still out of control, sees minimal growth