Sooke Potholes wildfire remains out of control
The Sooke Potholes wildfire has grown to 30 hectares, up from five hectares on Monday afternoon, according to the BC Wildfire Service.
The Sooke Potholes Regional Park, a section of the Galloping Goose and the campground will remain closed until further notice due to a wildfire, the District of Sooke says.
Monday afternoon around 2:45, crews were called out to the Sooke Potholes Regional Park for reports of a fire, which they found near the Galloping Goose trail.
“We had our crews respond, and had to go down a trail to take a look, and found that we had quite a considerable fire moving up to the north,” Wayne Kennedy, Sooke’s fire chief told CHEK News on Monday afternoon.
“So we responded, and let BC wildfire know they have crews in the air now, and they also have crews down here on the ground.”
Kennedy says crews were able to access the fire from the Galloping Goose trail.
The campground with about 30 campers was evacuated due to the fire, which Kennedy says was a precaution.
“When we got here and we saw the fire conditions, we started immediately evacuating all of our campers and anyone that was in the park, and the park’s closed now, for anyone who might be coming around,” Kennedy said.
“Just as a precautionary measure, the fire is actually moving towards the north but due to the wind conditions around here, you never know if it’s going to switch on us, so we wanted to be ahead of the game if we could.”
Tuesday morning, BC Wildfire Service still had the fire listed as out of control, and the size had grown to 30 hectares. Three initial attack crews, three response officers and three helicopters are responding.
Maja Tait, Sooke’s mayor, tells CHEK News there is an emergency centre set up in the municipal hall to monitor the fire and whether evacuation alerts are needed. At this time, no evacuation other than the campground is required.
Luchie Layno was camping in the park when the fire crews came around and evacuated the campsite.
“He told us we have to leave,” Layno told CHEK News on Monday afternoon. “I tried to pack some stuff that we have and he said ‘you don’t need to pack your stuff’ so we just have to evacuate.”
Layno is travelling from Edmonton with her baby Emma and her husband, so she was able to grab a pack of clothes for the baby and milk but then had to leave.
“We don’t know where to go because we’re from Alberta, so we have just been camping in a few spots,” Layno said. “Now all of our tents and our bed there, and some stuff, and my clothes and his clothes. So we’re kind of screwed now, we can’t move along to another site.”
In a notice posted on Monday evening just before 8 p.m., the District of Sooke said “[t]he opportunity to retrieve belongings will be addressed tomorrow.” Additionally, those evacuated from the campground were advised to find their own alternative accomodation.
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