The Crawford Creek wildfire near Squamish was officially declared out in the afternoon on July 26, according to the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS).
The complete suppression efforts took a total of about three weeks, as the fire was discovered on July 5 about 16 kilometres east of Squamish.
Jennifer Lohmeyer, an information assistant with the BCWS, told The Squamish Chief in an email that recent rainfall did help.
“This fire received some rainfall on Monday which helped to reduce the overall fire behaviour,” she wrote.
At one point, the Crawford Creek fire had seen what the BCWS calls a full response, meaning action is taken until it is deemed out as there is a threat to public safety or property or other things of value.
Additionally, Lohmeyer said a small wildfire, dubbed V32278, was discovered at 9:55 a.m. on July 26. It was approximately 0.009 hectares in size, east of Raffuse Creek and saw a response from one initial attack crew.
This fire was believed to be human-caused, whether on purpose or by accident, and has been declared out as of 3 p.m. on July 26, according to Lohmeyer.
Despite the recent rainfall, Lohmeyer hoped the public would continue to be cautious in the outdoors.
“Despite recent rainfall reducing fire activity in the Coastal Fire Centre, we hope the public will continue to be careful when enjoying the outdoors,” she said. “We are seeing unprecedented levels of fire activity across Canada right now and it is important that we do not divert crucial resources towards unnecessary, human-caused wildfires.”
As of July 26, the online wildfire map lists 426 active wildfires in B.C.
