Sooke Potholes Park fire being held: B.C. Wildfire Service
CBC
A wildfire in a popular park in southern Vancouver Island is now projected to remain within the current perimeter established by the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS).
The 2.3-square-kilometre blaze in Sooke Potholes Regional Park, dubbed the Old Man Lake fire, has been classified as "being held" Tuesday.
Located five kilometres south of the Sooke Lake Reservoir, the fire is currently not posing a threat to lives or properties, according to the BCWS.
But several regional parks and trails — such as the Sea to Sea Regional Park, the Sooke Potholes Regional Park and the Spring Salmon Place Campground — remain closed "as a precaution," the service says.
According to Cliff Chapman, the service's operations director, the fire remains active and its smoke will still be visible in the area.
The BCWS, however, has "fully contained" the fire's west flank along the Sooke River, and is continuing to "make good progress" on its north and south flanks. It said Tuesday that "there was no appreciable growth on the fire overnight."
"We don't anticipate that fire to go beyond our identified control lines," Chapman said in an interview with CBC's All Points West.
Chapman credited the effort of local firefighters, as well as support from some crews originally from Fort St. John, in helping bring the fire under control.
According to the BCWS, there are 70 firefighting personnel and three helicopters assigned to the Old Man Lake fire.
"That crew out of Fort St. John did an amazing job of helping and working with the local crews and the local fire departments that were on scene to really secure the edge of that fire," he said.
Chapman added that rain over the weekend helped with the firefighting effort, which the BCWS has also seen in other parts of the province.
The Old Man Lake fire is one of 77 blazes being held Tuesday afternoon. They make up just over 20 per cent of the 344 fires that are still burning across the province, with most blazes still listed as "out of control."
Chapman says he expects more heat to come in August, and he said there's more work to be done to put the Old Man Lake fire out.
"It's a lot of hard ground work now that's left on that fire," he said. "We've got resources on it to do that really difficult work, particularly in some of the terrain of that fire."
A surgeon who used to work at Flin Flon's hospital says residents in the northwestern Manitoba city have been left in a precarious situation after more than five years without general surgery services.
Moubarak Bokhit Ali's memories of his home country of Sudan are punctuated by flashes of violence.
The man behind the Moose Jaw health centre that has claimed “a 100 per cent success rate in stopping the progression and in restoring function of people with ALS” says a recent CBC story about his company is evidence that he is seen as “a direct threat to the ALS drug industry.”
The Neighbour to Neighbour Centre’s trans and non-binary grocery program, which offers free food and household products to community members once a month, began with a simple question: how do we get free menstrual products to trans people without being awkward?
Bill Van Vugt is living a life that's unlike most other people his age, and one which has seen him turn a longtime hobby into championship gold.
The provincial government is taking steps toward improving Alberta's lucrative sand and gravel industry.
As medical labs across Ontario remain understaffed, one medical association is calling on the province to expand labs’ capacity for student placements by funding positions to train them.
The year wrapping up means it's getting closer to tax season, and the federal Community Volunteer Income Tax Program will once again be offering free filing services for Islanders with modest incomes.
It's not so easy to remove a politician from office between elections in Canada.
Natasha Martin-Mitchell says creating art gives her a sense of calmness that acts as a medicine during stressful times.
Gabriel Vilardi scored twice and star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves in his first game back from injury to power the Jets to a 5-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday that snapped Winnipeg's three-game losing skid.
Alberta’s auditor general Doug Wylie says his office's budget will be $1.5 million short next fiscal year.
British Columbia has filed a civil claim against e-cigarette giant Juul Labs, alleging the company developed highly addictive nicotine products and fuelled youth nicotine addiction with “deceptive marketing practices.”