For up to date information on the fire, read this story.
—Update 8 a.m. June 11—
The Dryden Creek wildfire remains at 14.4 hectares, and out of control. There are currently two initial attack crews of three or four people each, and one unit crew of 20 firefighters responding to this wildfire, according to the BC Wildfire Service map.
There are currently four helicopters and one air tanker responding to this wildfire by air.
The evacuation alert remains in effect from Depot Road east of Highway 99 to Tantalus Road (North of Dowad and Thunderbird Creek). Anyone in the affected area must be ready to leave on short notice.
—Update 6 a.m. June 11—
No official change has been noted in the fire's status or evacuation alerts so far this morning.
DriveBC notes that on Highway 99, northbound, there is utility work underway at Depot Road. The right lane is blocked. The water supply is being diverted for BC Wildfire Service to fight the fire, from Dowad Drive to Depot Road.
The District of Squamish has asked locals to conserve water for use in fighting the fire.
Squamish meteorologist Jason Ross tells The Squamish Chief this morning that a weak upper trough will approach the south coast Wednesday evening into Thursday, bringing increasing cloud cover, cooler temperatures, and a chance of showers.
Rainfall totals are expected to be 1-5 mm by early Friday morning. So far in June, there has been no rain.
"Unfortunately, there is not a lot of positive news for the wildfire burning in Squamish," he said. "Gusty southerly winds of 30-40km/h are expected in the Squamish area this afternoon, with minimal rainfall anticipated from the next incoming system."
However, he says the higher humidity overnight each night will help.
A reminder that all fires are banned in the region, to conserve first responder resources.
This means no campfires or open burning of any kind.
Drones are also banned from anywhere near the wildfire as they can interfere with the ability to fight the fire from the air.
The area of the fire is prime mountain biking terrain.
The Squamish Off-Road Cycling Association reminds riders on its social media that trails on Debecks Hill, Jacks, Credit Line, Pamplemousse, Tantalus Road, and Dowad Drive trailheads are all closed and "the area should be avoided by all trail users including hikers and trail runners. The trails will be closed for a number of days including post incident."
Currently, there are 93 active wildfires in B.C., including the Dryden Creek wildfire.
Of those, eight were started in the last 24 hours.
Since the start of the wildfire season on April 1, there have been 349 fires, burning close to 564,000 hectares; 90 of the fires (26%) were caused by lightning, 249 (71 %) were human caused, including the Squamish wildfire; 10 have an undetermined cause.
Animal concerns
The Sea to Sky SPCA, located at 1005B Industrial Way, has temporarily closed due to the fire.
"All animals have been safely transferred out of the facility, and our staff have been sent home for their safety. We are closely monitoring the situation and will update this post with more information as it becomes available," reads a post to the local SPCA's social media.
The organization advises anyone with an animal emergency or in need of support related to the wildfire to contact the SPCA Animal Helpline at 1-855-622-7722.
Meanwhile, Canine Valley, located at 38917 Progress Way, has said that they are offering shelter for local animals if needed due to the fire.
Call them for help at 604-250-5097.
As of Wednesday at 5 a.m., the air quality is at 2 or low risk.
However, the Environment Canada statement remains in place, meaning smoke is causing or is expected to cause poor air quality and reduced visibility.
~With files from Jennifer Thuncher
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UPDATE: 9:20 p.m. June 10
The District said it does not expect any changes tonight to current evacuation alerts.
Updates on the wildfire will come from the District and BC Wildfire Service on Wednesday morning.
UPDATE: 5:40 p.m.
The Squamish wildfire has reached 14.4 hectares.
It still remains out of control.
The District says that the increase in size reflects growth away from the community along a west-facing cliff.
Tonight, there are 28 firefighters on the scene who are "working towards containment on the west and south flanks of the fire to prevent further spread, with good success."
Air tankers and helicopters continue to attack the blaze.
The helicopters are going back and forth to Alice Lake to bucket water to the fire.
Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for the region, due to the fire.
These statements are issued when "smoke is causing or expected to cause poor air quality and reduced visibility."
"As smoke levels increase, health risks increase. Limit time outdoors. Consider reducing or rescheduling outdoor sports, activities and events," reads the statement.
"You may experience mild and common symptoms such as eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches or a mild cough. More serious but less common symptoms include wheezing, chest pains or severe cough. If you think you are having a medical emergency, seek immediate medical assistance.
People more likely to be impacted by outdoor air pollution, including people aged 65 and older, pregnant people, infants and young children, people with an existing illness or chronic health condition, and people who work outdoors, should reduce or reschedule strenuous activities outdoors and seek medical attention if experiencing symptoms."
Please note that the video with story has also been updated as of 5:40 p.m., June 10.
UPDATE: 4:10 p.m.
The wildfire has reached eight hectares in size, according to the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) map.
Earlier Tuesday, it was said to be five hectares.
Due to the wildfire, the District of Squamish has implemented a campfire ban effective immediately, Tuesday, June 10 at 3 p.m. "to preserve fire suppression efforts and resources for the ongoing Dryden Creek wildfire."
A ban on Category 2 and Category 3 open fires, which was already in effect, remains in place.
All open fires within the District of Squamish are therefore prohibited until these bans are rescinded.
This means no campfires, open fires, fireworks, wood-burning saunas or hot tubs and the like.
The municipality has also asked residents to conserve water, as it is needed for firefighting efforts.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the BC Wildfire Service continues to assist Squamish Fire Rescue with battling this blaze, which was sparked Monday afternoon.
A BCWS unit crew of 20 firefighters and an initial attack crew of four are on scene, along with four helicopters.
This fire is said to be human caused.
UPDATE: 2:20 p.m.
An evacuation alert area has expanded on Tuesday and residents should prepare their belongings.
The District of Squamish expanded the alert at 2 p.m., stating properties on Tantalus Road north of Dowad Drive and the Skyridge subdivision along Dowad Drive are now on alert.
"You are advised to be prepared to evacuate on very short notice," states the District. "This is not a requirement to evacuate, but notice that evacuation may be required."
A Squamish Alert emergency notification was issued to the affected properties and Natural Resource Officers have been seen in the area going door-to-door.
ORIGINAL: 1 p.m.
An evacuation alert will be expanding on Tuesday due to a wildfire burning out of control in the north end of Squamish.
The Dryden Creek wildfire is estimated at five hectares in size and slightly grew overnight, 40 metres south and 40 metres below the original fire. The blaze, suspected to be human-caused, was sparked just before 4:30 p.m. on Monday. It's currently considered out of control.
A BC Wildfire Service unit crew of 20 firefighters and an initial attack crew of four are on scene.
Fire Chief with the District of Squamish Aaron Foote said crews are working to protect critical infrastructure at the top of DeBeck’s Hill.
“The crews worked hard last night, right up until 1 a.m. in the morning,” he said. “Our crews are working at protecting the homes in the area in case winds do shift.”
He expects air support will take a big punch out of the fire.
On June 9, the District of Squamish issued evacuation alerts to those living in properties at the east end of Depot Road, east of Highway 99, including the campground Mountain Fun Basecamp, and at the end of Tantalus Road.
The evacuation alert is to expand on June 10 to include properties in the Sky Ridge area for a total of roughly 100 properties.
Evacuation Alerts will be communicated through Squamish Alert and the District of Squamish website at Squamish.ca.
“The closest the fire has come to any of the houses is around 300 to 400 metres,” said Foote. "We do have sprinkler protection lines set up there, and they are soaking down the homes and the forests in between."
Residents are being asked to sign up for notifications through the Voyent alert system.
“The concern is valid, but we do have lots of assets available to us,” said Foote.
“We are using them on scene and monitoring overnight. The wildfire is generally burning uphill on Tuesday. We're doing our best, and the weather is looking favourable through the tail end of the week,” he added.
Squamish Mayor Armand Hurford said they are currently determining exactly how many properties sit inside that alert.
"We expect that to be about 100 and that's to ensure that we're acting with an abundance of caution," he said.
Squamish Fire Rescue said an update on the current situation is expected later in the day on June 10. This story will be updated throughout the day.
State of Emergency
The District of Squamish is declaring a state of emergency, due to the wildfire burning east of Highway 99 between Dowad Drive and Depot Road.
According to the District, this declaration allows the municipality to take immediate action that might not be possible otherwise, such as evacuating areas or controlling the use of property, "to prevent, respond to, or alleviate the effects of the emergency."
“The state of local emergency has been declared to ensure that we can access all resources available to us,” said Foote.
Hurford wants to be clear that the state of emergency is not due to the fire behaviour or elevated risk to the community.
“This is about our access to provincial resources so that we can address the issue at hand. It also allows us to make decisions around who's on evacuation notice,” he said.
Hurford said officials will go door-to-door knocking and alert people should they have to evacuate.
He’s asking people to avoid the entire area.
“The best way that the community can help is by staying far away from the fire itself so we can ensure that the crews have the space they need to have to do the work that they need to do to protect our community,” he said.
"That includes driving down the highway, venturing into neighbourhoods at the north end of town to sneak a peek, and does include hiking and mountain biking on DeBeck's Hill specifically, and I would say the whole north side of the of the community. Let's just give lots of space."
The District has also asked locals to conserve water to help with the fire fight.
"Due to increased consumption related to the wildfire response, our community's overall water demand is much higher than usual. Your efforts can help us avoid moving into Stage 2 or higher water restrictions," the District said in a post to social media.
The District is currently in Stage1 restrictions, which puts limits on which days locals can water their lawns and gardens.
It is also illegal to fly a drone near the fire, which did happen on Monday evening.
"There is a federal regulation around drone usage that requires us to ground our air response if there is a drone within 9.3 kilometers of the wildfire," said Hurford. "That is essentially the entirety of the District of Squamish."
Drones were flown much closer than that at the fire scene last night.
"We cannot have that behaviour," he said.
