A fire at Gun Lake north of Pemberton was quickly extinguished on Friday thanks to the quick thinking of local volunteers and BC Wildfire Service (BCWS).
Members of Gun Lake Fire (GLF) were fishing on the lake when they spotted the blaze on Friday, July 12. They raised the alarm at 9:55 a.m. and an immediate broadcast was made to muster at the fire hall. Thirteen brave active members of the volunteer fire brigade responded. GLF reported the fire to the BCWS and requested an initial attack crew.
GLF raced to the scene with one of its fire trailers. They set up a bucket line until a pump and hose was in place to fight the fire.
Thankfully, BCWS was on patrol close to Gun Lake and arrived on scene by 10:30 a.m.
GLF headed back to the fire hall at 11 a.m. while BCWS ensured no hot spots remained. GLF thanked all of their hard-working firefighters for making sure the fire didn’t spiral out of control in a Facebook post.
“The fast response by GLF firefighters and the BCWS IA crew had an enormous impact on the prompt resolution of this fire!!” they wrote. “Thanks to all that kicked it so hard this morning!!”
Spokesman for the volunteer group, Roger Stacey said that the cause of the fire has been determined. "It was a small brush fire at the waters edge which
was accidentally caused by a running engine," he said. "One of our members was out fishing and saw the smoke and flames and called it in to GLF. The fire was
quickly extinguished by GLF, initially using bucket line from the lake, followed by a thorough soaking with our pump drawing water from the lake."
Last summer, residents of Gun Lake watched their homes burn in real time on social media. Lightning is believed to have sparked the Downtown Lake fire on July 11, 2023. The fire burned out of control for weeks before a cold front caused flames to intensify resulting in a rare "fire tornado."
In total, more than 40 properties were lost to the fire, some held in their respective families for generations. AlpX Expeditions (AlpX) and Tyax Adventures recently donated $200,000 for complete debris removal on nine properties in the area. The contribution will address the critical need for asbestos removal.
Check back for more as this story develops.
