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Harrop Creek fire 10 per cent contained, not growing

The fire covers approximately 3,117 hectares
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The Harrop Creek fire in early August. Photo: Dominic Ngo

The Harrop wildfire is being monitored daily but as of noon yesterday had shown little growth in the previous few days according to Karlie Shaughnessy of the Southeast Fire Centre.

The size of the fire stands at 3,117 hectares and is listed as 10 per cent contained. Shaughnessy said the north flank is fully guarded and that the slow growth could be because of cooler nights and small amounts of precipitation.

There is still an evacuation alert in effect for the Harrop-Procter area, and prohibitions on off road vehicles and campfires.

Shaugnessy said there are 49 active wildfires burning in the Southeast Fire Centre and that there have been 350 so far this year, of which 267 were started by lightning and the rest by people.

To date this year 56,389 hectares have burned.

She said the current number of fires is close to the average of 342 fires over the past five years although the number of hectares burned is much larger. The average is 15,771 hectares.

The worst year on record, she said, was 2003. In that year by this time there were 725 fires that had burned 82,112 hectares.



Bill Metcalfe

About the Author: Bill Metcalfe

I have lived in Nelson since 1994 and worked as a reporter at the Nelson Star since 2015.
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