Cooler weather helping Squamish wildfire fight

Cooler conditions continue to help fire crews in Squamish fight the Dryden Creek wildfire, and the blaze is becoming easier to fight, the community’s mayor said in an update Friday.

Squamish Mayor Armand Hurford says this is because it was previously burning in steep, hard-to-reach terrain, and now it’s growing into an area that is more accessible for crews.

“In some ways, the growth helped us,” Hurford said.

“It was growing up and away from the community and now it’s into some terrain that crews feel they can really make some progress on the fire, and it’s made a noticeable difference.”

According to the BC Wildfire Service, the Dryden Creek wildfire is almost 60 hectares, only slightly larger than Thursday.

1130 NewsRadio Meteorologist Michael Kuss explains that winds are going to be light through the morning, while the humidity index is up.

“Temperatures are down in the low double digits through the morning. Now, we’ll warm up and clear out through the afternoon, and the winds are going to get gusty once again today, 20 to 40 kilometres per hour, but not as extensively or as long-lasting as the last few days,” he said.

While the sun breaks through, Kuss says it’s going to be a gradual build-up and temperatures won’t make it into that upper 20s-low 30s range that the region saw last week.

1130 NewsRadio Meteorologist Michael Kuss explains that winds are going to be light through the morning, while the humidity index is up.

“Temperatures are down in the low double digits through the morning. Now, we’ll warm up and clear out through the afternoon, and the winds are going to get gusty once again today, 20 to 40 kilometres per hour, but not as extensively or as long-lasting as the last few days,” he said.

While the sun breaks through, Kuss says it’s going to be a gradual build-up and temperatures won’t make it into that upper 20s-low 30s range that the region saw last week.

“It is going to heat up and clear out, there’s no precipitation in sight all the way through the early part of next week, but temperatures, after a couple of warmer days on the weekend, will drop back close to 20 for daytime highs and cooler overnight lows down around 10, with more cloud, higher humidity,” he said.

While no further evacuation alerts have been added and no evacuation orders put in place, Squamish Mayor Armand Hurford said Thursday that he knows being under a local state of emergency can be scary.

“It’s alarming language, and it’s an important tool. It’s very localized to these folks. … The town is functioning,” he explained.

— With files from Michelle Meiklejohn

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