Parks Canada says crews fighting the Verdant Creek wildfire, which has reached an estimated 13,500 hectares, are set to move out of Sunshine Village ski resort on Wednesday.
“We’ll be positioning resources—people and aircraft—on both sides of the divide,” incident commander Jane Park said Tuesday. “So some will be in the Kootenay, Radium, Invermere area and some will be in Banff, and we’ll have aircraft on both sides.”
Scroll down for the latest closures in Banff and Kootenay national parks
Sunshine Village says they’ll have guests checking in as soon as Wednesday night, but will be ready should they need to close again.
“We’re in the weather business and fire is the most unpredictable of all elements,” spokesperson Kendra Scurfield said. “So if it does happen a third time, we’ll have to make it work and we’ll have to move our guests off the mountain. We’ll also have to move our staff off the mountain again. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, but we really want to be helpful in this situation with Parks Canada, making sure it’s safe and they get the fire under control.”
WATCH: Parks Canada crews are working to put out spot fires as part of their fight against the expanding Verdant Creek wildfire. As David Boushy reports, crews are once again moving out of Sunshine Village
Park said the move is to maintain “operational flexibility” related to the smoke issues of fighting a fire that’s so geographically spread out. She noted there are 130 people and seven helicopters currently involved.
“Today the weather is overcast and kind of cooler on this side, but it remains hot and dry on the other side, so it’s really quite different on one side of the fire to the other,” she said.
Watch below: Parks Canada provided an update Tuesday on the Verdant Creek wildfire. David Boushy has the details.
Park said officials are now comfortable that it’s safe for their firefighting operation, as well as operations at Sunshine, to move into town and into Kootenay National Park—lessening the commercial impact, as well.
The fire has not crossed the continental divide, nor has it grown significantly to the north, where crews have been limiting its spread, Park said.
Watch below: Jane Park from Parks Canada explains why they closed down Highway 93 on Friday.
On Friday, winds carried the fire into the Highway 93 South corridor and sent embers towards the road south of the Simpson monument, resulting some highway closures over the long weekend.
“Those spot fires that we have detected on that west side of the road are contained at this time and we should have them extinguished shortly.”
She said the spot fires were relatively small; none were over half a hectare.
You can check Drive BC and Alberta 511 for the latest traffic information
Park said the Vermillion Pass Guard, put in place during the 2003 fires, will also be refreshed starting Tuesday to provide a containment line. She called it a proactive, precautionary measure to limit the spread north towards the Bow Valley.
In terms of impact on wildlife, Park said lightning-caused fires like this one are common within the Kootenay valley.
“Our ecosystems in the mountains… are adapted to fire and they do rebound quickly,” she said. “Fires like this do create a lot of grizzly bear habitat, habitat for ungulates (hooved mammals) and wolves, and so while there are obviously definite impacts…the benefits in the long-term to the ecosystem are actually substantial.”
Watch below: Jane Park from Parks Canada explains progress on the Verdant Creek wildfire.
Included in Tuesday’s update was a reminder to the public that it’s illegal to fly drones in the national parks, due to the risk of endangering staff and pilots.
“There wasn’t an incident, thankfully, but we do recognize that drones are getting more popular and with this number of aircraft in the air—so seven up to 10 aircraft in the air with poor visibility—we are very cognizant of aircraft safety,” she said. “Having something else like a drone in the area that takes their mind off of what they’re supposed to do is the hazard there.”
For the latest update on the wildfire from Parks Canada, click here
Watch below: Jane Park from Parks Canada explains why the move out of Sunshine Village is about more than progress on the Verdant Creek wildfire.
What’s closed in Kootenay National Park:
- Area northwest of Honeymoon Pass Trail including Hawk Creek Trail and Kootenay Park Lodge
- Verdant Creek and Simpson River area
- Southern portion of the Rockwall Trail from Floe Lake trailhead on Highway 93 South to Tumbling Pass, including Floe Lake and Numa Creek backcountry campgrounds.
What’s closed in Banff National Park:
- Ball Pass area from junction of Whistling Pass
- Sunshine Village and Sunshine Village Road
- All trails in the Egypt Lake area, including Healy Pass, Citadel Pass and Sunshine Meadows
- Brewster Creek area drainage
- Backcountry campgrounds Re16, E13, E5, Su8 and BW10