Wildfire Service crews dig a guard line on the north side of the Nohomin Creek Fire. UPDATE: 13:15 The response to the Nohomin Creek fire northeast of Lytton saw a significant increase in traffic on Texas Creek Road/Spencer Road, west of the Fraser River. The BC Wildfire Service says firefighters, structure protection, water services, support personnel, BC Hydro and maintenance vehicles are en route to the fire. “With increased traffic and activity in this area, the safety of responding personnel, community members and area residents is a high priority,” BCWS says. Traffic in the fire area is restricted to firefighting personnel and local traffic only. UPDATE: 1:05 p.m BC Wildfire Service crews activated a sprinkler system today in the Stein Valley to add moisture ahead of expected hot and dry afternoon conditions on the Nohomin Creek Fire. The fire continues to burn northwest of Lytton and is estimated at 2,058 acres. Meanwhile, crews on the south side continue to mop up and put out hot spots. They are closely patrolling an extinguished wildfire near the start of the Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park hiking trail in Stein Valley, looking for any remaining burning embers, the fire service says. Lytton First Nation crews continue to work south of Stein Valley, putting out pockets of heat and smoke. “On the north side, the crew working along the steep ridge of the mountain will continue to push up with guardrail construction, building on the progress made yesterday,” BCWS says. “Further north, the crew that completed construction on the emergency line ahead of the north side will be putting up rubber along the length of the emergency line they constructed yesterday.” Rappel crews are establishing helipads to facilitate access for crews and equipment while assessment and protection triage of the structure continues. The cause of the fire remains unknown and is under investigation. There are currently four unit crews, eight initial attack crews, 18 Lytton First Nation firefighters, an Incident Management Team, structural protection personnel, a cultural liaison from Lytton First Nation, four water tenders, 11 helicopters and other operational and support personnel who supports the response. ORIGINAL: 6:25 AM While the south, east and north flanks of the Nohomin Creek Fire northwest of Lytton are showing minimal fire activity, the west flank remains active in steep and non-functional terrain. In an update Tuesday night after 10 p.m., the BC Wildfire Service said helicopters have been providing bucket support throughout the day and continue to have good success on both the north and south sides. The containment line crews are building on the south, east and north sides continued to hold up well against the gusty afternoon winds. The perimeter of the fire along the south side burned quite patchily and unevenly, the fire service says. On Tuesday, crews “made great progress mopping along the line and worked to extinguish hot spots and smoke up to 50 feet from the perimeter.” Helicopters provided bucket support to the south corner on the west side and were able to cool that portion of the fire. “Crews working along the Stein Valley Trail continued to lay pipe and install sprinklers. By the end of the day, they had set up 1,500 feet of pipe and tested the sprinklers to make sure everything was working properly.” Initial attack crews also completed a sweep of the 1.3-hectare fire that was spotted Sunday morning near the start of the Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park walking trail. The on-site fire is now at the patrol stage. Along the east side, Lytton First Nation crews continued to extinguish pockets of heat and smoke found during their mopping and patrolling efforts. Crews working on the north side continued up the steep ridge with sentry construction while another crew completed construction of an emergency line. The fire is still considered out of control and remains stable at 2,058 acres. However, a warming and drying trend is expected to increase fire behavior. In cooperation with the Lytton First Nation, traffic in the fire area along the west side of the Fraser Canyon is now restricted to fire response personnel and local traffic only between Texas Creek Road/Spencer Road 20.5 kilometers south of Lillooet and Lytton footbridge.
