Whistler Blackcomb Fire Forces Evacuation of 400

by mtippett | July 30, 2009 at 02:26 pm

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NowPublic just received a report that Whistler Blackcomb mountain is on fire.

The Whistler-Blackcomb wildfire was started by a single lightning strike high on Blackcomb mountain's north side.

The Blackcomb wildfire is burning north of Crystal Ridge in the "Crystal Zone" near the Ridgerunner on Blackcomb Mountain.

Tourists, hikers, and Blackcomb Mountain Crystal Lodge staff housing are reportedly being evacuated from the area and helicopters have been dispatched to assist in fighting the fire from the air. Water bombers are en route to the location.

It is an estimated 4.0 hectares in size. BC Wildfires has labelled a rank four forest fire "which is highly vigorous surface fire behaviour with torching".

View Whistler's Blackcomb webcam and Whistler Peak webcam

Twitter users have been the first to respond. Francis Chiasson has posted a set of photos of the wildfire to Facebook: Blackcomb Mtn Fire

Forest fire breaking out in the edge of the whistler mtn ski area. A couple heli's going after it, but its growing fast in this heat.

is evacuating Whistler mountain... thunderstorms & lightening on the way...

Current weather conditions in Whistler, BC are 33-36 degrees Celsius with thunderstorms expected into the evening.

Environment Canada has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch warning for the area.

ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE FOR LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS IS AN ALERT TO THE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES TAKE IMMEDIATE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS.

THE COMBINATION OF STRONG DAYTIME HEATING AND HIGHER HUMIDITIES HAVE CREATED CONDITIONS FAVOURABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON. THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING INTENSE LIGHTNING, HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND DAMAGING WINDS.

By coincidence, from July 31 to August 9, 2009, more than 10,000 police officers and firefighters will arrive in Whistler, BC to participate in the 2009 World Police & Fire Games.

The World Police & Fire Games are a spectacular international sporting event, offering police officers, firefighters, customs and correction officers from around the world an opportunity to showcase their athletic excellence in over 65 sporting events.

Held biennially, the World Police & Fire Games will be held in British Columbia in 2009

This is a developing story and NowPublic will be updating it as more information becomes available.

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mtippett

flagged this story as Breaking

at 14:26 on July 30th, 2009

mtippett, thanks for getting this story out so quickly. It will now show up on the home page for four hours. If new developments justify it, I'll renew this flag for another cycle.

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mtippett

at 14:43 on July 30th, 2009

There are severe weather warnings for Whistler.

mtippett

at 14:47 on July 30th, 2009

The World Police & Fire Games are starting on Friday. I can't think of a better time for the world's fittest fire fighting professionals to be on site.

Jordan Yerman

at 15:11 on July 30th, 2009

According to a friend who works at Whistler, they are not evacuating.

mtippett

at 15:33 on July 30th, 2009

A high res photo here.

balboa (not verified)

at 15:33 on July 30th, 2009

Which direction is the fire spreading currently? Is there any chance of Whistler Village being evacuated?

Jordan Yerman

at 15:40 on July 30th, 2009

Update: the wind shifted-- they're evacuating the Jersey Cream area.

mindanarchist

at 15:42 on July 30th, 2009

oh, shit i think franz is on fire. i love that run.

Fowls (not verified)

at 15:59 on July 30th, 2009

Actually they evacuated base II. Which has staff housing, F&B, payroll, and a few condos.

fowls (not verified)

at 17:04 on July 30th, 2009

The downhill race is on Whistler mountain. The only event on Blackcomb is the bobsled/luge track which is near base II. It's raining now, so I seriously doubt anything will happen.