MLU FORUM - Tatoosh Fire out of control now ...

Hi all,

I've been sort of keeping tabs on this fire that started US side of the border, which has come over to our Canadian side and is threatening gorgeous Manning Park areas ... news on TV just stated that it's out of control now and people are alerted to be ready to evacuate on short notice. They showed video clips of the fire in action and it's pretty darned impressive scarey. This one looks like it's going to be really hard to handle, from what I've heard so far :(

Karmen.

Quote:

Tatoosh fire threatens Manning Park in B.C.
Updated Tue. Sep. 5 2006 11:35 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The expanding Tatoosh fire continued to burn out of control Tuesday as the 21 square kilometre blaze made its way closer to Manning Park, B.C.

The fire, which began Aug. 22 in Washington State, reached Canada on Sunday and was monitored overnight by infrared photography via the U.S. military.

B.C. forest service spokesperson Jeff Moore told The Canadian Press that no progress had been made on Tuesday.

"We fully expect that size has increased today,'' said Moore, adding smoke conditions still make estimating the size of the fire difficult. "It is zero per cent contained.''

Firefighters are attempting to create guards around the fire and burn off fuel in advance of the blaze to allow air tankers and helicopters to assist in the mission.

Moore said the overnight infrared mission detected a 'spot fire' north of the Tatoosh blaze that was about 250 hectares in size.

"This is just proof of what we've been indicating all along, that the smoke in that valley is hampering our visibility and ability to detect new fires," said Moore.

"Had we had people on the ground in front of that fire they may well have been stuck between two large fires."

The majority of the ground and air firefighters are in Princeton waiting to combat the blaze.

In the meantime, "there are things being done in advance of the fire. Building additional lines is planned," said Moore. "The tactics are more indirect right now."

As of Tuesday morning, the fire was not directly threatening residences but it was pushing the border of Manning Park.