Aerial resources were dropping regular loads of water and fire retardant on the Mt. Hayes fire, southwest of Nanaimo Airport (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

OUT OF CONTROL

UPDATE: Crews make inroads on Mt. Hayes wildfire as favourable weather helps efforts

Aug 20, 2021 | 2:21 PM

NANAIMO — A day of cooler weather has allowed fire crews to get an upper hand on the wildfire burning southwest of Nanaimo airport.

The Mt. Hayes fire was listed at 20 hectares the evening of Thursday, Aug. 19, but ballooned to 70 hectares by the morning of Friday, Aug. 20. Little growth occurred over the course of firefighting efforts on Friday thanks in large part of favourable winds, high humidity and a cool daytime high.

“It’s been mainly rank two burning within the perimeter that was reached by this morning,” Gordon Robinson, Coastal Fire Centre information officer told NanaimoNewsNOW. “Our crews are continuing to establish anchor points and control lines on the edge of the fire and because of that lower fire behaviour, they’ve been able to do some direct attack and go right at the fire.”

A rank two fire is a surface fire with visible flames, while some sections had earlier been classified as rank three meaning there were more aggressive flames and candling into trees.

Despite no overall change in size, the fire has shifted throughout Friday. The Coastal Fire Centre noted there was some growth to the north and east of the fire early Friday morning.  Steep terrain made life difficult for fire crews in moving heavy equipment, however bucketing support from five helicopters provided some inroads throughout the day.

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The area around the fire being a mixture of logging slash and partially regenerated forest.

Robinson said it was too early to say the fire was even partially contained and the BC Wildfire Service still considers it a fire of note, burning out of control. The weather forecast calls for more favourable conditions on Saturday, Aug. 21, but no substantial rain is in the forecast.

Around 40 firefighters, multiple water-bombing helicopters and several pieces of heavy equipment spent time on scene Friday, along with aid from local volunteer fire departments. All the provincial crews, including ones contracted for this fire, came from the Coastal Fire Centre with no resources recalled from the Interior.

Air tankers were flying overhead Thursday afternoon laying down fire retardant lines, however were not used Friday. Smoke from the fire limited visibility and making it unsafe for them to make passes over the fire.

“The retardant lines are put in advance of the fire to prevent the fire from moving into new fuel,” Donna MacPherson, Coastal Fire Centre information officer, said.

The CVRD issued an evacuation order for one building, a Fortis BC natural gas holding tank, on Thursday night. The CVRD also declared a local state of emergency for Area H, later extending it to a small section of Area G.

The Regional District of Nanaimo joined the CVRD in issuing an evacuation alert on Friday afternoon for some residents in RDN Area C and CVRD Area H, encompassing much of Takala Rd., Ivey Rd. and David Rd. A total of 20 properties were affected.

Latest estimates have the nearest boundary of the fire approximately a kilometre away from any homes. Several residents adjacent to the fire began to take precautionary action on Thursday afternoon, by moving large animals and livestock from their farms.

The prevailing course of the fire continues to avoid direct contact with the nearby piece of Fortis BC natural gas infrastructure, however the Coastal Fire Centre is watching it closely.

Sean Beardow, manager of corporate communication for Fortis BC, said they’re watching the situation closely and have essential personnel still at the facility.

“We have a number of contingency plans in place for fire scenarios. We work closely with local fire departments, the facility itself has a range of on site fire control and response equipment in place.”

Aerial efforts to suppress the fire also impacted operations at Nanaimo Airport.

Brandon Wiebe, airport operations director, said Transport Canada issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) on Thursday, which is restricting traffic at the airport from sunrise to sunset.

Two Air Canada flights, one late Thursday night and another early Friday morning, were able to depart however the majority were cancelled through the day.

He noted smoke was blowing away from the airport and is not directly responsible for any operational issues.

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