Fire crews remain ready
When mid-Island residents take to the woods this Thanksgiving Day long weekend, Donna MacPherson says she is hoping they will govern their activities not by the calendar, but by the conditions at hand.
The fire information officer said the little bit of rain experienced in the area last week wasn’t nearly enough to make a real difference in the forest fire situation.
“I would love to say it was, but that’s just not so,” she said. “Our fire danger rating around Parksville area and Courtenay south is still high. The little showers that came in were pretty scattered. It wasn’t soaking and solid enough to turn it around.”
She said a second system approaching from the north isn’t expected to deliver much more in the way o moisture either.
“The weather forecaster is not seeing more than scattered showers,” she said. “Unfortunately, along with it is coming a lot of wind. Then we’re looking at a return to warmer and dryer weather towards the end of the week.”
The unusual run of dry weather, she said, has led to as many as two fires a day being reported within the boundaries of the Coastal Fire Centre.
The dry conditions on the ground, she added, also mean the fires are particularly stubborn.
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