'Good progress' made battling Mount Seymour fire, officials say

Officials say there will be more smoke over the North Shore on Thursday as crews continue battling a wildfire that broke out on Mount Seymour.

Metro Vancouver Regional District said the small blaze was monitored throughout the night, and that firefighters have since resumed their efforts to prevent the flames from spreading.

"Good progress was made yesterday," the district said in a social media update.

The Seymour River wildfire was reported shortly after 4:30 p.m., according to the B.C. Wildfire Service, which last estimated the size at 0.3 hectares, or 3,000 square metres. That estimate has not been updated since Wednesday evening.

‘THE FIRE IS NOT SPREADING’

At a late-night media briefing Wednesday, officials said crews had managed to significantly contain the fire, which sent a plume of smoke over the North Shore that could be seen from downtown Vancouver.

"The fire is responding to our fire suppression efforts and the fire is not spreading,” said Brant Arnold-Smith, the emergency operations centre director for Metro Vancouver.

Crews from the District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue, North Shore Emergency Management and B.C. Wildfire Service worked together to contain the blaze.

A dozen helicopters and water bombers dropped buckets of water until 8 p.m.

Ground crews, who hiked hours into the backcountry, then took over firefighting efforts until Thursday morning.

"We have not seen any significant rainfall, so it is concerning when we see a fire of this magnitude in the Lower Mainland,” said Arnold-Smith.

No homes are currently in danger, according to the District of North Vancouver.

The B.C. Wildfire Service initially attributed the fire to be caused by lightning, however it's since been updated to say "human." 

Officials say ground crews are busy cutting trees to make room for a temporary helipad to help get firefighters in and out of the dense area.

A plume of smoke is seen coming from a fire on Mount Seymour on July 12, 2023.

WITNESS: 'IT WAS JUST PURE LUCK THAT WE SAW IT'

David Cameron is a volunteer with North Shore Rescue. His team was flying a helicopter towards Vancouver Island when he noticed something strange coming from the forest.

"I looked over the ridge and saw a huge plume of black smoke,” said Cameron.

"It looked as if a cedar tree had been struck by lightning at some point in the past, it was split at the top and that tree had obviously candled."

That’s when he decided to call for help.

"We diverted from where we were planning on going, flew right over top and informed Metro Vancouver of the fire," Cameron said. “It was just pure luck that we saw it.”

He then spent the evening watching the water bombers work to put out the blaze.

Metro Vancouver has thanked residents who called in when they noticed the smoke coming from Mount Seymour.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Lisa Steacy and Andrew Weichel