LOCAL NEWS: ATVS TO COME VISITING ▼ A12
Times
Thursday, July 9, 2015 ▼ Volume 51 No. 28 ▼ www.clearwatertimes.com ▼ $1.35 Includes GST
THE
NORTH THOMPSON
CLOSE MISS: Lightning hits tree by house. See page A3 for what happened.
Happy Canada Day at Dutch Lake River Shook looks almost overwhelmed as he chows down on a hot dog during Canada Day celebrations at Dutch Lake beach. A large crowd came out to enjoy games, music and other activities at the beach during the day. For more photos from the event, see page A9 inside. Photo by Keith McNeill
Canada Day in Upper Clearwater Sharon Neufeld (l) holds Canada flags and Susan Ward holds a cake decorated with a flag as they lead singing of O’ Canada during a potluck held on Canada Day at the former Upper Clearwater schoolhouse (now Thompson Rivers University’s education and research centre). About three dozen people took part. For more about the event, see page A6 inside. Photo by Keith McNeill
2014
CCNA BLUE RIBBON
First Place Best All Round Newspaper & Best Editorial Page Second Place Best Front Page All of Canada <1,250 circulation 2014 First Place General Excellence B.C. and Yukon <2,000 circulation 2014
A helicopter drops water from a bambi-type bucket as it tries to control a fire near Vavenby on July 4. Photos by Robyn Rexin
Fire threatens Vavenby Keith McNeill As of press-time earlier this week, it appeared that a quick response by local Forest Service personnel and contractors had contained a small forest fire a few kilometers north of Vavenby. The fire was spotted Saturday afternoon, reported Richard Swift, a forest protection assistant with Clearwater Fire Zone. An Initial Attack crew (usually three-person) plus a helicopter were dispatched right away. The helicopter dropped bucketloads of water to control the fire, plus an air tanker dropped retardant. Local contractors were able to install a machine guard on the fire that evening. Hot and dry weather on Sunday meant the fire picked up and burned off the green trees within the guard, but the fire
Highway 5 Little Fort, BC 250-677-4441
did not spread. As of Monday morning the forest firefighters were mopping up. In addition to the IA crew, there were contract crews, an excavator, a water tender, a first aid vehicle and an incident commander on the scene. The fire was located in a 10-year-old plantation between two roads: Montana Creek Forest Service Road and a subsidiary road. It was clearly visible from Vavenby. Although it had yet to be officially determined, the fire was believed to be lightning-caused.
Photo shows forest fire burning on the slope to the north of Vavenby on Saturday afternoon.
Highway 5 Clearwater, BC 250-674-3148
Located on Highway 5
The blaze near Vavenby was not the only fire to keep staff at Clearwater Fire Zone busy. About six other fires, all of them small, appeared towards the end of last week. All but the two near Clemina are believed to have been caused by the lightning that went through the area recently. Hot and dry weather since then brought the embers to life. As of last Friday, all of B.C. was under a campfire ban, except for a narrow strip along the west coast of Vancouver Island.