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Thursday, July 9, 2015
» Dog Mountain
WILDFIRE
Mars gets call to action ERIC PLUMMER ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
Rob Frolic captured this surreal image as fire continued to burn close to the edges of Sproat Lake Tuesday evening. [ROB FROLIC, PHOTO]
Sproat wildfire grows to 245
Lake residents watch blaze spread as Mars bomber remains idle KRISTI DOBSON ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
While most of the Alberni Valley has been engulfed in smoke, many lake residents are experiencing the Dog Mountain fire close to home. The devastation, which has increased from a 125-hectare fire to 245 hectares within 24 hours, has raised awareness about air quality, safety and created a general sense of unease. Social media has been the quickest way to communicate with friends, family and the rest of the community. With his camera in hand, Rob Frolic has been keeping hundreds of social media followers updated on the fire’s progress on a daily basis. Living on Faber Road, he was one of the first to call in the fire to emergency services. From there, he has been taking daily boat trips and tracking the fire’s progress. He said seeing the blaze creep further has been a surreal experience. “It has been quite the sight to see,” he said. From Saturday’s spark, Frolic has witnessed jumping hot spots leave unburned patches in their path, acting as fuel to spark fur-
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ther fires. “It has been stubborn,” Frolic said. “You see (firefighters) spend so much time on one spot and think it is out, so they go to another and the first one is back, pushing further.” He watched it spread towards Two Rivers and Taylor Arm and onto the beaches. “It fueled significantly and trees were going up,” he said. With more than 600 photos taken, Frolic will have this documentation for the history books. “The aftermath will be seen for many years to come,” he said. “It is right in the centre (of the lake) where everyone can see it. It will
be like a dark reminder of what happened.” Frolic said he expects it will not be until the last ember burns that the impact of what he is capturing will sink in. Likewise, Bishop Drive resident Tom McEvay has been using his proximity and communication skills to share his views. Living directly across from the mountain, McEvay has witnessed the fire unfold. “I saw it from the first puff of smoke on Saturday to what we are faced with now, which is an entire mountain on fire,” McEvay said. He said he wants to get the information out in a timely manner and has been going out in his boat twice a day. The whole experience is leaving him with mixed emotions. “It is very sad and frustrating,” McEvay said. “I try to remain calm to finger-pointing but in my opinion, there was not a sense of appropriate urgency. There was quite a bit of time that passed before the first helicopters and plane with fire retardant came. We clearly have to say it was too little too late.” At the same time, as he struggles to let that go, McEvay said it
is frightening to think of what is still to come. “To see this fire move has been very discouraging, scary, frustrating and surreal,” he said. On Sunday evening he saw the red glows move over the ridge and to down the Taylor River side of the mountain before it took out a cabin. “That night it was like lava flows coming down cliffs,” he said. “From a visual standpoint, it was spectacular, but from an emotional standpoint, it was frightening.” He saw the mountainside speckled with hot spots and heard trees falling down. He fears if the fire is left to burn out, the issue of small landslides will persist and the air quality could remain poor for weeks. “This didn’t have to be, but it is, and we have to support those fighting it,” McEvay said. “They are amazing and are only dealing with the resources they have.” Chris Alemany has been using his website, alberniweather.ca, to keep track of air quality and the fire’s progress to gather information in one spot. See FIRE, Page 3
As the Dog Mountain forest fire grows to over 245 hectares, filling the Alberni Valley with smoke, B.C.’s minister of forests has finally announced what locals have yearned for all week: The Mars water bomber will be back in the air. Since the spring Coulson Air Tankers has held a contract with the province keeping the Mars on standby in case its 27,200 drop capacity is needed this summer, but the massive plane has remained on Sproat Lake this week despite the rapid spread of the nearby Dog Mountain fire over the lake’s shore. This is about to change with an order from the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource operations given on Wednesday afternoon. “I’m pleased to announce that we’ve got an agreement with the Coulson group, we’re entering into a one-month agreement with them to use the tanker given the extraordinary fire situation this year,” said Minister of Forests Steve Thomson. “There are a few steps that have to take place before it actually gets put into action around testing and some training and all of that sort of thing, my understanding is that’s going to take a day or two. Theoretically we should have this in progress or in use by the weekend.” For years the iconic plane has been used to fight forest fires across B.C. and elsewhere in North America, but the bomber was grounded last year after the province opted not to renew its suppression contract. On Wednesday Thomson admitted that the ongoing forest fire situation in B.C. has forced the government to reconsider. “We have modern and cost-effective aircraft available for B.C.’s terrain, 32 six-wing aircraft, helicopters, amphibious scoopers,” Thomson said. “We felt we had the appropriate resources available but given the extraordinary fire situation this year that we’re in, we’re looking to every possible tool with our toolbox.” Eric.Plummer@avtimes.net
City launches survey for branding
Resident finds niche working with local kids
Do you have the best idea of what sets the community apart from the rest? The city is looking for input on how to drive economic development »Alberni Region, A3
Rhylie Lee is an active local resident who enjoys encouraging others to be involved in sports and recreation. » Community, A5
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