Firefighters are working in steep terrain with dangerous trees and unstable rocks trying to get a wildfire north of Mission under control.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Davis Lake wildfire was burning out of control. It's currently mapped at 110 hectares in size.
The blaze, about 18 kilometres north of Mission was first discovered on July 5. It's listed as a wildfire of note by the BC Wildfire Service — that is a wildfire that is highly visible or poses a potential threat to public safety.
The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) is asking people to stay away from the area.
"With terrain complexity and for the safety of the firefighters and crews working on the fire, people are to avoid the area completely to enable wildfire-fighting activities,” states an advisory issued at 4:15 p.m. on Monday.
The forest service roads beyond Davis Lake are closed. The Lost Creek and Sylvester forest service roads are being used by BC Wildfire Service.
Tarina Colledge, manager of emergency management with FVRD, says property owners with recreational sites are being asked to avoid the area too.
"There are fire crews working in the area, and we ask people to not go into the area unless they need to access their cabins on Stave Lake,” states BC Wildfire Service.
BC Wildfire Service believes the fire was human-caused. Meanwhile, 58 personnel are responding to the wildfire along with one helicopter.
"Crews are making good progress establishing control lines, with heavy equipment and small-scale burning,” states a fire information officer with BC Wildfire Service, adding that this tactic is used to ‘box-in’ the fire. "This type of burning is done on the fire side of the control line to reduce the fuels between the line and the advancing fire which reduces fire behaviour as it approaches the control line.”
There are no evacuation orders or alerts as of Tuesday at 3 p.m.
If you see a wildfire you are asked to report it by calling 1-800-663-5555 or texting *5555 as soon as possible.
