Fire Breaks out at base of Mt. Arrowsmith near Port Alberni

Update 4:45PM

Some new picture from Justin Fraser. He says they are working on containing it. No update on the bcwildfire site.

We hit a high of 33.5°C at the Airport so far and 33.7°C at Alberniweather.

Update 2:30PM

I have not received any new information on the fire. The Air Quality has improved as well as the smoke and clouds have cleared some.

Update 10:30AM Saturday

The smoke isn’t so thick that is impacting the sun too much so we are likely to still reach the low 30s today. That said, Air quality is an issue. The fine particulate counts went down over night but are now elevated again at 16ug/m3.

I woke up earlier this morning around 6AM and took a snapshot of the view in the cool of the morning. The smoke was low in the valley. But we couldn’t smell it here.

Now the sun is higher, the fire likely more active, and the smoke a little more dense. We can smell the acrid smell in the air.

The fire is still listed as 20 hectares on BCWildfire.ca. The AVNews reports 26 personnel will be on the fire today. Lets wish them speedy work.

Update 10:40PM Saturday

The smell of smoke is in the air and elevated levels of particulate are being detected at the Air quality station.

Port Alberni showing the effects on the (new! Mobile friendly!) air quality website.

Update 10:00PM

Thanks to Justin Fraser for the update. 6 aircraft have been on the fire including 3 helicopters. 15 personel. The fire has subsided a little but is not out yet.

Now 20 hectares according to BC Wildfire.