Thanks to sharp eyed members of the public spotted a fire starting to take hold in a heavily treed area above Chinook Cove just north of Barriere on Monday, July 12, just before 2 p.m.
Chinook Cove is a rural hamlet on the west side of the North Thompson River with a well known golf course adjacent to the Yellowhead Highway, and is just a few minutes outside the community of Barriere.
BC Wildfire were fast to act, as were the Barriere and Chu Chua fire departments who were on scene amazingly fast along with spotter planes and air tankers dropping fire retardant. The fire trucks quickly headed up to where the plume of smoke and flames could be seen rising from the mountain area known as the Seven Sisters.
Area ranchers and their families were also quick to act and attended the scene to lend a hand and knowledge of the area.
There were a number of fire retardant drops and then a helicopter took over dropping water on fire just after 3 p.m.
Residents within the area and the town of Barriere kept a close eye on what was happening and were much relieved by late afternoon to see that the attack on the fire seemed to have halted its progress.
Barriere Fire Rescue posted the following statement that evening on social media at 10:15 p.m.
“We would like to send out a huge thank you to BC Wildfire for acting on our call for immediate air support and to Chu Chua Volunteer Fire Department for their hard work today. Mutual aid is an amazing tool to have in place for times like this. Also, a big thank you to the Barriere RCMP detachment for their help as well as all of the local farmers that were helping all day as well, as they know the lay of the land better than most. Barriere and Chu Chua Fire Departments are back home and there is still a forestry crew working on the fire through the night.”
On Tuesday afternoon BC Wildfire officially posted that the 0.10 hectare fire in the Chinook Cove area (now noted as K21841) was under control.
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