2009 FIRE THREATENS NUK TESSLI

By e-mail from Chris: 2:49 p.m., August 2nd

There has been much news about the Hwy 20 fire and the road closures at Heckman Pass on the way to Bella Coola. Nuk Tessli is not affected at all by that fire, with the exception of a bit of smoke.

On August 31st a fairly noisy thunderstorm passed over Nuk Tessli, after two weeks of insanely hot weather. Lots of lightning everywhere. The following morning (1st) was calm and comparatively clear. The wind had changed to the SW, which meant the reign of thunder was probably over, but later in the day I was alarmed to see a column of smoke build up west of Nuk Tessli in the trench that houses Knot Lake and Lonesome Lake. I reported it by email and also by radiophone to Mary, who used a regular phone to call the forest service. They responded fairly quickly but thought I might be seeing smoke from an established fire near Widgeon Lake, not far from the start of the Lonesome Lake Fire of 2004. Finally they sent a plane around to look. Not as easy as it sounds as there are at least six fires within a 80 km radius and smoke from all of them has reduced visibility quite a bit. Then they said a helicopter would be landing at my place soon. Visibility was still pretty good but my cabins were directly in the path of the fire, with unbroken forest all the way between us, and the smoke was getting thicker.

When the guys got out of the helicopter they said the fire was quite serious. It was at the head of Knot Lake, just on the west side.

This is a map I drew of the Lonesome Lake Fire of 2004.
The northernmost tip of Knot Lake is at the bottom left.
Nuk Tessli is at the bottom middle.

They said the plane had reported 20 hectares of flames an hour before, now it was at least 100 hectares. The white billowing fire tower, the cloud that is comprised of the steam from burning vegetation, was already mounting high above the smoke. The fire was at the head of Knot lake and at the moment on the far side of the trench. But it was so close to the end of the lake that it was very likely to cross the valley in the down draughts during the night. The fire was about 12 km from my place: during the Lonesome Lake fire, strong SW winds drove flames up the Atnarko, more than twice that distance, in two days. Even if the fire did not reach us, the smoke would probably be very unpleasant.

Been there, done that. 11 clients and a wwoofer/guide had flown out that morning and four clients had flown in. These were a couple my age, their 80+ mother, and their 9-year-old granddaughter. The fire would likely stay away for a couple of days but the smoke would be distressing: at least now the visibility was good enough to fly out.

I could not get out on the Telus radiophone channel, so a call to Mary on the local frequency to phone Duncan Stewart to pick us up. A frantic run around to try and remember to pack everything important and store all fuel in the fuel cache away from the cabins. Shut all the windows and doors. Even so, the pilot had to wait. It was a temporary pilot - he is an Air Canada pilot normally but loves bush flying and fills in for Duncan when his other pilots need a break. Oddly enough he was the same pilot who flew us out when we baled from the Lonesome Lake Fire.

When the guys landed by helicopter they assessed the situation and said that even if the fire did reach the place, as was very likely, there was a very good chance they could save the buildings with sprinklers. They warned me they may have to cut trees down close to the cabins, and if I have any roof leaks there may be water damage. They are not attempting to fight the fire any other way at this time - there are too many fires in the area - at least six within a 50 mile radius - and they are looking after the ones that threaten communities and roads.

This morning, (2nd) I was told by a very understanding fire officer, Rob Bardossy, at Alexis Creek, that a sprinkler crew would be going in this afternoon. They were the same crew that parked for a month at Crazy Bear Lodge to save it from the 2004 fire. So I guess Nuk Tessli is in good hands. It is supposed to get 10 degrees C colder in a couple of days with 40% chance of rain. There is hope. I will send a photojournal to my web site and update with news when I can.

August 2 photojournal

By e-mail from Chris: 8:55 a.m., August 3rd

Just heard from the BC Forestry Service (8.30 am August 3rd). When the helicopter flew over Knot Lake yesterday the fire was still on the far side of Knot Lake which is very good news. There was little wind yesterday and none last night. Tomorrow the temperature is supposed to cool dramatically, which will help, and a chance of showers is forecast. It is supposed to rain in a few days.

Meanwhile, Highway 20 (from Williams Lake to Bella Coola) is closed in four places because of fires. We are cut off in both directions. Alexis Creek has been evacuated. The fire near Tatla Lake has produced a lot of smoke at Ginty Creek. The produce trucks are supposed to come Tuesday and Wednesday. (Today is Monday). I am about to run to the Nimpo and Anahim stores and grab all the week-old vegetables before there are none left. I have well over $1,000 food stored at Nuk Tessli. There is almost nothing to eat at Ginty Creek.

By e-mail from Chris: 5:56 p.m., August 4th

I just phoned Duncan Stewart of Tweedsmuir Air. He has been flying clients into the valleys on either side of Nuk Tessli and he had a look at the Knot Lake Fire this afternoon. It is still on the far side of Knot Lake. Rain had been forecast for tomorrow but it seems to have evaporated. However, it is cloudy and much cooler. Serious rain is forecast by the weekend so we'll keep our fingers crossed that we have no big winds before then. A big firefighting crew has moved onto the mill site between Nimpo and Anahim Lakes and they will likely put a dent in the fires unless more heat and violent winds start up again.

Several communities on highway 20 (between Williams Lake and Bella Coola ) have been evacuated or are on evacuation alert. One of the fires is close to Williams Lake and so far only local traffic are being allowed onto the Chilcotin but I would imagine that will change soon. Five clients are due at Nuk Tessli on the 9th (they are already on the Chilcotin); all being well I will be home by then.

By e-mail from Chris: 10:20 a.m., August 5th

Nothing to report on the fire itself, but the promised days of showers have not materialized and now it is supposed to be five more days of sun with temperatures back up to 30 C

By e-mail from Chris: 3:08 p.m., August 6th

Yesterday morning Rob Bardossy, the senior protection officer at the Cariboo Fire Centre, phoned me with an update. He said that winds had been light and mostly north or south so although the fire had in fact gone round the head of Knot Lake it still was not doing very much on my side of the Knot Lake valley. However, the promised rain never materialized and the next few days are forecast to be hot again; heat creates winds and exacerbates fires. I've been down to that end of Knot Lake a couple of times. I came up that way from my old cabin at Lonesome Lake (which was destroyed in the 2004 fire). I managed to find a game trail up a spur, obviously one of the few game routes in and out of the Knot Lake Valley for miles. There were some rocky places where I had to remove the dog packs so they could jump up, but encountered tracks of wolves, bears, dear, goats, and even moose. It was extremely rough country in the bottom of the valley: wild, glacier-fed, many-skeined creeks with dense stands of young fir tangled over huge boulders as a result of the Pandemonium Creek blowout of the 1930s (I had to crawl and drag my pack through that lot), and some areas of massive coastal firs and cedars. Steeps slopes act like chimneys and if the fire is stirred up it will roar up the side in minutes.

When speaking to Rob yesterday, he told me why a sprinkler crew had not yet gone into Nuk Tessli as originally planned. The crew were actually on their way out of Williams Lake and were ten minutes short of Alexis Creek when that major fire erupted causing the closure of the road and the evacuation of the community so of course the crew were diverted. Now that fire and the one closer to Williams Lake are under control, a camp of firefighters has been established at the mill site between Anahim and Nimpo. "My" sprinkler crew is there but if other fires are more urgent they will be deployed elsewhere.

When it was announced on the 3rd August that Hwy 20 was closed in the east as well as the west, I wondered if the produce trucks would get through. I was desperate for fresh greens, having abandoned both sprouts and sprout seeds in my rush to get away, so I thought I'd get to the Nimpo store (40 minutes from my winter place) while there were still some left. I managed to buy a small cauliflower with black mould on it; a bunch of rubbery broccoli and a bulb of garlic that turned out to be half rotten and rubbery as well. In this, Nimpo is the same as all the stores on the Chilcotin. Produce comes from California or Mexico to Edmonton before it arrives "fresh" on Tuesday or Wednesday so five or six days later; what is left is pretty bad.

I have some food sensitivities - I cannot eat processed food or canned goods - and I kept thinking about all the wonderful things up at Nuk Tessli: walnuts; almonds; cashews; lentils; miso; sprout seeds; cheese: also the thousands of dollars worth of books that I would hate to lose either to the fire or to water damage caused by the sprinklers. I phoned the two local float plane companies: Tweedsmuir Air has been sending fishing clients to valleys north and south of mine as the Turner Lake chain and Hunlen Falls area is under evacuation order (because of the Junker Lake Fire which is further west than the Knot Lake fire). I could catch a ride with one of their planes and pay only half the flight cost. I would still have to pay a full fare out, though, after I had packed everything up. Sid Blackwell, who manages the Nimpo branch of Lakes District Air said he had no clients in that area but he offered to fly me in very early, at daybreak, and wait for two or three hours so I would have to pay for only one flight. This was a wonderful offer, especially as Sid would be able to help carry stuff to the wharf; however, I still would rather not do it at all as it would cost $450 with taxes and I don't like flying! Sid said he could do this today (Thursday); Friday or Sunday - on Saturday the plane was due for maintenance so unavailable.

So what to do? Go in tomorrow or risk waiting? If I wait, will the smoke be too bad for a plane to land? It's the not knowing what is going on that is the worst problem. The forest service site has 30-some fires listed on the Chilcotin but none of the info. is updated; and any information at all is available only from interface fires, the ones that affect structures such as roads or buildings.

Half an hour ago I received a call from a man called Larry someone, who has popped up as the information coordinator for the Nimpo/Anahim area. He has 20 fires under his wing: he will give a meeting and reassurances at Nimpo tonight. Both he and Rob have been extremely kind and understanding. I hate to bug them as I know my fire is very insignificant to everyone else but I have to make decisions that cost money - and I have already lost a lot due to client cancellations as have everyone on the Chilcotin. Anyway, Larry tells me that the Knot Lake fire is still diddling around doing very little; the increased heat over the next couple of days will bring stronger winds, which might be a problem, but after that it is supposed to cool off again and rain is once more forecast, at least for Bella Coola if not for the Chilcotin. Whether it will spread as far west as Nuk Tessli remains to be seen but the coolness will help. Heavy bands of rainy-looking clouds are piled up off the coast on the satellite pictures of the weather forecast, but they have been doing that these last 3 weeks and the high is just too strong to let them spill onto the land.

Rightly or wrongly I have decided not to go and grab possessions tomorrow. Maybe I will have to try and do it Sunday; maybe the winds will be kind. Thank you to all of you out there who have emailed with your emotional if not physical support. I know you are watching the skies and waiting with me for rain.

By e-mail from Chris: 8:00 a.m., August 7th

Last night I went to a fire information meeting at Nimpo lake. This is the smoky sunset I saw on the way home.

The fire information officer told me the following:

1. The change in the weather seems more definite this time. By Monday the rain should have reached Bella Coola; however the Chilcotin is forecast only for clouds. It is not known if the rain will reach Nuk Tessli.
2. Huge numbers of personnel are being imported - from all over Canada and even Australia. These will be spread all over BC, with most people and equipment going to the bigger fires further south, which is only to be expected.
3. In the month of July 2,000 fires burned in BC; right now there are about 800 active.
4. Things have been fairly quiet over the last 48 hours; the fire officers have access to a web site that shows all the fires by satellite heat censors. They are not allowed to pass this site to the general public. The information officer told me that the Knot Lake fire is mostly in the yellow zone except for one red hot spot at the northern end. This would be the big coastal trees that I encountered there.
5. Before the cool, damp weather, it will get very hot today. The heat will increase the winds. They are also changing from northwest to southwest . Good news for most of the fires but the most dangerous for Nuk Tessli. (It is also smoking up my winter place again: the last two days have been comparatively clear.)
6. A sprinkler crew will be dispatched to the Turner Lake today to protect a Parks cabin and Stewart's Lodge canoes from the Junker lake Fire. If they have time they will go to my cabin, too. The fire will be monitored closely and they will get to my cabins by tomorrow if necessary.
7. Cabins like mine, perched on rocks and not enclosed at the bottom, are particularly vulnerable to sparks getting underneath. I have given the Fire crew permission to rip up decks if necessary so they can give the under-floor a good soaking. They may cut down a lot of trees and there may be water damage. There will likely be a pretty good mess but because they are on the point it is almost certain that the cabins will be saved unless things get out of hand again.

So it is a race. Which will get there first? Fire or rain? And if the cabins are saved, will the fire smoulder on the hillside and block access to my main hiking areas? I had thought to run in there and grab stuff this morning but as nothing much happened yesterday I will wait another day. Originally Sid Blackwell told me he could not fly Saturday but now he will be available so if the SW winds drive the fire to the top of the Knot Lake Valley, there will still be time to get in there tomorrow.

One way or another, in a couple of days it should all be over.

By e-mail from Chris: 7:00 a.m., August 8th

This is the Modis satellite heat-recording site for active fires. Red are the hotspots. http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/fireplots/bce2009220_0300.jpg

If you look at this frame, you can just see the thin black thread of Highway 20 wriggling across a quarter of the way up. (The larger road in the middle is the one to Prince Rupert.) Bella Coola is a bit north of the top of Vancouver Island. Click on the southwestern quarter of the frame to enlarge.

USDA Forest Service

The Heckman pass fire still has hotspots, the large one with lots of red due south is the Junker lake fire - I had no idea that it was so big. it is surprising that it is so fierce as most of that country is fairly high. (It will not affect Nuk Tessli in any way with the exception of smoke if the wind is right: the fire will be blocked by the already burned area from the Lonesome Lake Fire of 2004.)

The one south of Junker Lake is "my" fire: the furthest south, in fact, in the mountains. No hotspots at all right now and the fire service guys last night told me that it is trapped by the curve of Pandemonium Creek. When I hiked down there twelve years ago I cursed the creek as, even at the beginning of August, it was wild and roaring, split into many skeins and thick with glacial silt. (This silt is what gives Knot lake its blue colour.) You could not see the bottom of the various branches of the creek and the only way to cross was to slide my feet into the wild current and hope for the best. Now it is the good guy in the equation: a strong wind might blow sparks over it but any kind of ground fire will be stopped. The fire people said they are monitoring it carefully and if there is any sign of the fire leaping the barrier they will waterbomb it. The valley there is very steep and deep but it is "open ended" so it is logistically very easy to use that method of control there.

At the same time, fallers went into Nuk Tessli yesterday to prepare the cabins for the sprinklers should they need them. They were going to "clear all the vegetation within ten feet of the buildings." I thought with dismay about the lovely bonsais close to the door and on the front deck, and the three large trees to the south that shade the cabin in hot weather. But the report last night was that they have decided to cut down only dead trees - and buck them up as well which is an unexpected bonus! I had already taken down about eight beetle-killed pines close to cabin #1 but there are more near the meadow behind the cabins. There will be a mess of branches to dispose of somehow but I will be flying in with two wwoofers to help with the cleanup.

The weather turned cooler yesterday, earlier than predicted for this area, and it was supposed to rain in the Bella Coola Valley tonight - several fires there are causing a lot of grief with many people evacuated and the roads closed most of the time. The fires don't look very big on the satellite map but the valley is precipitous and narrow and the fires are all close (some very close) to habitation and the road.

I was originally due to have two parties of guests tomorrow, the 9th August. Gusty winds are forecast for the next two days and I think I will wait until Monday 10th to fly in just in case there are any flareups. I have just checked the weather forecast and it is supposed to be showering in Bella Coola right now but the Chilcotin will probably stay dry. Knot Lake and Nuk Tessli are somewhere in the middle so what will happen there is anyone's guess.

Here at my winter place it was very smoky for most of yesterday. Most would be coming from the Heckman Pass Fire (even though it is nearly two hours' drive away.) As the day cooled the smoke rose like a lid and at sundown clear, golden sky could be seen underneath. The smoke itself was travelling at a great rate although there was very little wind at ground level. This morning a fresh wind is sweeping the sky from the southwest and the mountains are clearer than I have seen them for a very long time.

By e-mail from Chris: 8:00 a.m., August 9th

Yesterday was hot and sunny with violent southwest wind gusts at my winter place. In the afternoon, when the fire activity was likely to be the strongest, I climbed to a lookout point. In the distant west was a black wall of cloud, in front of which smoke was rolling up from what was probably the Heckman Pass fire.

I was thinking that Nuk Tessli would be getting the same violent airflow (there is a mountain in the way so I could not see much in that direction) but when I phoned the fire information service later they were surprised at my wind report as, although there had been some wind elsewhere, it had not been too bad. The Junker Lake fire near Hunlen Falls was a-roaring: in 2004 the eastern side of that lake was burned - that was where the lightning strike occured - now it is the western side. When I looked at the heat-sensitive satellite pictures, I could see a large red patch heading straight for Duncan Stewart's camp. They have sprinklers in place and hope to save his boats.

At the end of the day I could also see a red dot (indicating a hot spot) on the Knot Lake fire but, inexplicably, it was at the southern end, part way up the flanks of Mount Monarch. The north end is still being nicely held at bay by Pandemonium Creek. Sprinkler crews went into my cabins and gave the perimetre of the property a good soaking. I was also told that there was very little smoke (that of course could change if the wind veers), and the cool cloudy weather is now spread over the area. There may be some wind this afternoon but if everything looks good I will probably fly in this evening. I will be accompanied by two strong young lady wwoofers who will help clean up any mess from the fallers; for the time being, everything looks fine.

I will be packing up my computer and satellite modems and flying them in with me: with luck, the next update will be from Nuk Tessli itself

See also subsequent August photojournals on the fire:

• August 10: Home Again! - Fire update, Aug.10
• August 23: More Fire News
• August 28: Fire Resurgence