B.C. crews battle suspected human-caused wildfire in Squamish Valley

It’s only April 1, and already crews with the BC Wildfire Service have been called into action on the south coast.

Firefighters were called to a 3.5-hectare wildfire about 17 kilometres up the Squamish Valley on Monday afternoon.

The BC Wildfire Service says an initial attack crew was already on scene with support of a helicopter, and that a half-unit crew had also been deployed.

It says no structures are currently threatened by the fire.

Fire information officer Donna Macpherson says though a wildfire in April is uncommon, it makes sense with the winter we had.

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“We had snow on the ground for a long period of time and then when it went, it went quickly and then it flipped over to hot and dry.”

She adds they have reason to believe it started from backyard burning.

“Certainly we’re asking people to be careful, don’t do it at all if it’s windy and monitor it, and make sure it’s out cold before you leave the area.”

Macpherson says they don’t believe the fire will be out by Tuesday morning.

“We are going to be sending additional resources to work to contain this fire, because of the steep slope it’s going to pose as a challenge for the crews.”

The fire comes after crews were called on the weekend to tackle two wildfires burning west of Chase in the Shuswap region, one of which grew to 250 hectares in size.

It also comes on the heels of a particularly dry March in B.C., with Vancouver setting an all-time record for low precipitation.