Puntzi Lake Caribou region

[madadam]

Wow, discovered today and its already estimated at 500 hectares.

Puntzi Lake (C50146)

Last updated: Wednesday, July 08, 2015 at 7:27 PM

Location: Northwest of Puntzi Lake
• See approximate location of this wildfire on a Mapquest map.
• View an interactive map of all active Wildfires of Note.

Discovered: Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Size: 500.0 hectares (estimated)

Status: Active
• 0% contained
The wildfire is exhibiting aggressive fire behaviour.

Interface: Interface Interface Fire
There are structures in the area and airtankers are working hard to protect them.

Evacuation Order is in effect.

The Cariboo Regional District has issued an Evacuation Order and an Evacuation Alert for the area. For more details, please visit the Cariboo Regional District's Emergency Operations Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/CRDEmergencyOperations

No further details available at this time.

Cause: Under Investigation

Resources
• 22 firefighters
• 3 helicopters
• 4 airtankers
The BC Wildfire Service has airtankers, three helicopters and 22 firefighters currently on scene. Additional resources are being sent to the fire including 50 firefighters and eight pieces of heavy equipment. Crews will be working on this fire through the night.

Map & Photos: There are no maps or photos available for this fire.

[madadam]

7/9/2015 3:29 PM

WILLIAMS LAKE -- The wildfire burning on the northwest side of Puntzi Lake, about 130 kilometres west of Williams Lake, has grown to approximately 1,200 hectares in size.

We fished it last year, lots of bug kill in area so that wont help.

[Bsuds]

The "only" good part will be the bugs are fried!

[Glacier]

My friends just lost everything. 20 years of hard work, gone up in smoke.

[Wildfire 3]

My friends just lost everything. 40 years of hard work, gone up in smoke.

Sorry to hear that, Glacier. Would have loved to help out as we were there on standby for 4 days, but it was quiet...we completed the contract and were home by 0100 Wednesday morning, just missed it unfortunately. I hope your friends make out ok.

[slootman]

I have family on Puntzi. I've heard that a few buildings have been lost, though nothing official. It really came out of nowhere. :(

[Glacier]

An Air Tractor AT-802F Fire Boss amphibious airtanker has crashed while scooping water from Puntzi lake this afternoon.

Bill Yearwood with Transportation Safety Board says the pilot escaped and is O.K.

It happened around 2:15 when the Conair plane ran into some trouble on the lake and crashed.

The aircraft has now sunk and Yearwood says it will be some time before it will be retrieved if they need to examine it.

“We are standing by to get more information from the pilot,” he says. “From that, we will decide if it is necessary to attend the site.

It is not clear what caused the crash.

“We are quite familiar with the aircraft and its operation and there is no information to suggest there’s been any problems in advance of this,” says Yearwood.

The wildfire is on the west side of Puntzi Lake, about 130 kilometres west of Williams Lake. It is about 1,200 hectares in size and is zero per cent contained.

Seventy-six firefighters, three helicopters, eight pieces of heavy equipment and four airtankers are in the area fighting the blaze.

There are an Evacuation Order and an Evacuation Alert currently in place for the area.
http://globalnews.ca/news/2104596/water ... ntzi-lake/

[Frisk]

It's now listed at 6,880 hectares on the all current wildfires page.

[Glacier]

It's now listed at 6,880 hectares on the all current wildfires page.

Over 7,000 now.

Here's what it looks like from the air...

[Glacier]

Here's what the fire looked like when it was just 1 hour old:

[Glacier]

Punzti? Seriously, Castanet?

Punzti fire 1/3 contained

Good news in the ongoing battle to contain an aggressive, 70-square-kilometre blaze raging in the Cariboo Region of Central British Columbia.

Crews have managed to contain just under a third of the Puntzi Lake fire, burning about 150 kilometres west of Williams Lake.

The fire more than doubled in size on Saturday, from 30 to 70 square kilometres, thanks to strong winds and an abundance of dry fuel.

Fire officials have ordered 90 properties in the region to evacuate, while more than 180 remain on evacuation alert.

So far several properties have been destroyed by the flames, including a hunting and fishing lodge, two permanent homes and one seasonal residence.

Lightning was responsible for starting about 60 new wildfires across B.C. over the weekend, although the cause of the Puntzi Lake blaze remains under investigation.

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... htm#143975

[Glacier]

Sorry, solicitating funds on the forum is not permitted.

[Frisk]

It sounds like the fire got rained on quite a bit, which should help with containment.

[Frisk]

Size: 8,089.0 hectares (estimated)

Status: Active
• 30% contained
The Puntzi Lake wildfire is now 30% contained on the south west flank. The new size is due to an up-to-date tight line of the fire.

The fire received approximately 12 millimeters of rain between yesterday and today which contributed to suppression efforts on the fireline.

[Glacier]

As his house burned to the ground, Geordie Ferguson was doing what he always does: thinking about others.

“I had a job to do,” says the man who loaded 29 planes with fire retardant on the day he lost his home next to Puntzi Lake.

“I could not put myself first. I could not hold my head down and pout and cry. I had planes to load, I had more houses to save. I had a community depending on me to do my job, and I did it.”

read more:
http://globalnews.ca/news/2106575/puntz ... he-ground/