The forest and brush around the international airport at Cranbrook, B.C., has been scorched in an all-out effort to protect the vital transportation link from an encroaching wildfire, airport manager Tristen Chernove said Friday.
Wildfire crews conduct controlled burns, as shown in this handout image provided by Tristen Chernove, near Cranbrook, B.C.'s Canadian Rockies International Airport to provide a fire guard from the out-of-control St. Mary’s River fire.
“Last night there were some further ignitions done very close to the airport, which visually can look pretty dramatic, but it was all under control,” he said. “The airport itself, while we are in the midst of a lot of smoke, as far as fuel load around us, we are actually quite protected.” The Regional District of East Kootenay followed the wildfire service recommendation late Thursday and issued an evacuation alert for 71 dwellings, including the airport property, because of the 26-square-kilometre fire.
“I would say there’s been a lot of proactive measures, including last night, to keep the airport protected from any surprises.” Environment Canada issued heat warnings Friday, saying unseasonably hot weather in B.C.’s Okanagan, Thompson, and Boundary regions will push temperatures into the mid 30s into the weekend.
Cliff Chapman, BC Wildfire Service spokesman, said about 500 international firefighters are already in the province, boosting the ranks of the more than 2,000 provincial wildfire service personnel on the front lines battling hundreds of blazes.
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