Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - There have been large wildfires on Cortes Island, in the distant past. The largest shown in the 2011 Wildfire protection plan was more than 330 acres in extent, and there were two fires that burned close to 255 acres. Those were Those were in 1932, 1924 and 1923, respectively. There hasn’t been a fire larger than 10 hectares since at least 1950.
This could change, as our summers become warmer and dryer.
Last week Premier Ebby declared a state of emergency in face of the worst wildfire season in BC’s history.
While there are no major fires in our immediate vicinity, the BC Wildfire service says, “We are in a drought condition. Our forest fire fuels are very dry and the ignition potential is extremely high.”
So Cortes Currents asked interim Fire Chief Eli McKenty what the situation is like on Cortes Island.
“Conditions on Cortes right now are slightly better than they have been, but most of the wildfire weather stations in our area are still ranked four, which is very high fire danger, so we're definitely not out of the woods yet,” he began.
