The wildfire that sparked in a Metro Vancouver park Wednesday was “nearly contained” as of Thursday morning, according to the regional district. Metro Vancouver is the lead agency responding to the blaze in təmtəmíxʷtən Belcarra Regional Park, which is approximately 1.5 hectares in size and showed “no significant growth” overnight. While the B.C. Wildfire Service still classified the fire as “out of control” as of Thursday morning, officials told CTV News they expected that status to be changed to “being held” by the afternoon. “Metro Vancouver firefighting crews maintained an overnight fire watch and are continuing suppression efforts this morning, focusing on extinguishing remaining hotspots, reinforcing containment lines, and monitoring for residual heat,” the regional district said in a statement Thursday. The fire broke out Wednesday afternoon near Sugar Mountain Trail and prompted tactical evacuations of two homes on Fern Drive in Anmore. Thirty-five other properties in the village were placed on evacuation alert due to the blaze, which crews said Wednesday had come within 300 metres of the nearest property. Crews from Sasamat Volunteer Fire Department, Port Moody Fire Rescue, Metro Vancouver and the B.C. Wildfire Service worked together on the initial response Wednesday. The regional district praised the BCWS for its helicopter bucketing efforts, which “contributed significantly to the rapid containment of the fire.” While the situation appears largely under control, Metro Vancouver continues to urge the public to avoid the area and allow firefighters to finish their work. “At this time, the fire is not expected to spread beyond the current containment lines,” the regional district said. “Crews will remain on site throughout the day to extinguish hotspots and ensure the fire is fully secured. Metro Vancouver extends its appreciation to all partner agencies whose swift and co-ordinated response helped bring the situation under control and minimize impacts to the surrounding community and regional park.”
