Fire crews are back on the scene of a small forest fire along the edge of Harrison Lake this morning.
The fire broke out just after 4 p.m. Monday, and was threatening at least four homes along Rockwell Drive, about one kilometre from the Village of Harrison. Fire crews quickly got the blaze under control, with a total of 17 firefighters on the ground, four engines and a tender, four helicopters with monsoon buckets and an airtanker with retardant.
The fire covered about .3 hectare, and on Monday evening was about 80 per cent contained. While a 24 hour fire watch was in place overnight, fire fighting operations were ceased overnight due to darkness.
This morning, the District of Kent fire department is on scene with ground crews from Wildfire Management.
Both the District and the Village fire departments responded to the fire, however, the fire is in the District of Kent.
Preliminary investigation points to the location of the fire starting at the roadside of Rockwell Drive and likely caused by people, said Fire Chief Wayne Dyer. He added that afternoon south winds resulted in the fire being carried up towards the homes.
Investigators from the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and the District of Kent fire department will continue their investigation in the morning.
About an hour after the fire started, the water bomber flew in and doused the flames with red retardant twice. Rockwell Drive was temporarily closed off as the fire was being contained. Homeowners and campers converged in parking lots, on the docks, and in the road, all cut off from their homes and campsites.
One woman worried whether her husband could secure the house, and if she could get her medication for the evening. Campers wondered whether they would be left to sleep in their vehicles in Harrison.
One Agassiz man noted that the same side of the mountain burned back in the late '50s or early '60s, and that his father fought that fire.