Lightning strike sparks five out of control fires in Strathcona Park

A series of lightning strikes have sparked several out-of-control fires near Strathcona Provincial Park, but Coastal Fire Service says they are monitoring the blazes to ensure they don’t get bigger and endanger any infrastructure or populated areas. 

Fire information officer Nick Donnelly says the fires were reported on the evening on Sunday and so far, they have made progress containing some of the blazes, but with the fires’ location and lack of resources they are going to manage them appropriately. 

“The fires are in high elevation areas and don’t have much fuel to expand further,” Donnelly says. “At this time, they’re no threat, so it’s a modified response to monitor the situation and let them burn out.”  

Donnelly says Coastal Fire isn’t expecting a change in the fire but if conditions worsen, they will respond and react accordingly. 

“We expect the fire to burn out on its own,” he says. “We will continue to monitor the situation and if there are any changes it will change the response level.” 

Donnelly says there are currently five fires which are out of control near Strathcona Park and another out-of-control fire in Shane Lake Park. 

He says with rain in the forecast he hopes it will help ease the number of fires for the remainder of the season, but even with rain people still need to remain vigilant and cautious. 

“We need some significant rainfall events to make a difference,” he says. “The fire prohibition is still in place, and everyone should be safe, cautious and follow all the prohibitions and restrictions.” 

There are still currently 42 active wildfires in the Coastal region bringing the total to 211 fires so far this year.