As it approaches the two-month mark, the Chehalis River wildfire has once again been upgraded to out of control.
The B.C. Wildfire Service upgraded the 767-hectare wildfire to 鈥渙ut of control鈥� from its longtime status of 鈥渂eing held鈥� early Monday afternoon.
This wildfire is several kilometres northwest of Harrison Hot Springs just north of Chehalis Lake, and it was discovered on June 3. It was upgraded to a wildfire of note on June 7 and downgraded to 鈥渂eing held鈥� on June 16 before it was re-upgraded to 鈥渙ut of control鈥� on Monday.
The wildfire is suspected to be human-caused.
鈥淲e urge people to obey the open fire prohibition, which restricts all open fire in our jurisdictional areas,鈥� The BCWS stated in an update. 鈥淐ampfires are only permitted in Haida Gwaii.鈥�
The Chehalis River wildfire is by far the largest of the season so far in the Agassiz-Harrison area, though the community has also dealt with the smoky effects of other fires throughout the Fraser Valley. Due to drought conditions, wildfire danger is currently considered 鈥渆xtreme鈥� in the area.
As of Monday, there are 488 active wildfires in B.C.
To report smoke or wildfires, call 1-800-663-5555 or dial *5555. A mobile app is available to use for reporting and monitoring as well.
adam.louis@ ahobserver.com
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