A Coastal Fire Centre fire crew was called in to tackle a small, human-caused fire under the Elk Falls Suspension Bridge this morning.
The fire was in Campbell River Fire Department jurisdiction but it was inaccessible to them, so the Coastal Fire Centre was called in to help.
“We sent in an initial attack crew and an officer and a truck to deal with the fire,” said Donna MacPherson, fire information officer for B.C. Wildfire Service/Coastal Fire Centre.
The fire crew had to climb down the Elk Falls Canyon to get a pump down to water level and then run a hose back up to the cliff top in order to pour water down on top of the fire from above.
The crew decided to deal with the .01 hectare fire this way because it would have taken rope crews and rappelling to climb down to the fire located underneath the Elk Falls Suspension Bridge. The plan was to pump water on the fire for two hours and then leave it to the rain expected within the next 24-48 hours.
""The risk of leaving the area was pretty low," MacPherson said.
The site will be re-evaluated on Monday.
Fire crew runs a hose down to the river level in Elk Falls Canyon in order to pump water onto a fire underneath the Elk Falls Suspension Bridge this morning.