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Fire Breaks Out at Klein Lake

Campers at Klein Lake got a front row seat to what Coastal Fire Centre crews do when a wildfire breaks out recently.

Carrie Sasaratt was camping at Klein Lake when she heard a huge clap of thunder that sounded close, followed by lightning, so she and her friends scrambled to pack up.

A neighbouring camper notified that two lightning strikes had sparked an active fire and when Sasaratt called the BC Wildfire Service, she was asked, among other questions, what colour the smoke was.

“BC Wildfire took me through the questions that they have which were very interesting because they ask you what colour the smoke is and so on,” said Sasaratt. “As I was watching it, it sort of went from smoke to a great big blaze leaping out of the hillside.”

Fire Information Officer Dorthe Jakobsen said the colour of smoke can tell crews a lot.

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“It tells them something about what’s burning or how hot it’s burning,” said Jakobsen.

It also helps crews distinguish smoke from the cloud.

Sasaratt said she was very impressed with how fast crews arrived, including a helicopter and bucket.

“We were incredibly impressed by the response of BC Wildfire, everything from the availability of information online, to the call and the intake, and the response, it was just so quick, it was really quite amazing,” said Sasaratt. ”

“I just hope it gets under control, it’s our favourite place to go in the summer,” said Sasaratt.

Fire Information Officer Dorthe Jakobsen said there were about a dozen lightning-caused fires Thursday afternoon, including the one at Klein Lake and crews are very efficient.

“When these kinds of lightning events happen and they spark a bunch of little spot fires like this we try to get crews out there as quickly as possible and they put them out really quick,” said Jakobsen.

The Klein Lake fire is listed as being 0.01 hectare in size and crews returned to put out any flare-ups yesterday afternoon.

If you see a fire, do what Sasaratt did, call the BC Wildfire Service at 1-800-663-5555 or text * 5555.

Klein Lake fire. Supplied by Carrie Sasaratt.
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