A lightning strike in the Capilano Watershed had Metro Vancouver firefighters tramping through the bush to douse a single burning tree, Tuesday.
"It caused a fire in a single snag. It was burning quite vigorously. There was a plume of smoke that was quite visible and was reported by lots of different folks," said Bill Morrell, Metro Vancouver spokesman.
Metro sent out crew members via helicopter, though it was too dark to lower them in to begin fighting the fire.
"There was very little risk of this spreading, given both its size and the fact that it's quite wet up there. The decision was taken to delay responding to it until (Wednesday)," Morrell said.
Because of a low cloud deck on Wednesday, firefighters had to hike several hours into the bush in order to fight the fire.
Morrell said they would have to return to the site on Thursday and possibly Friday to ensure no hotspots had flared up, causing the fire to reignite.
Though we are not yet into forest fire season, the Coastal Fire Centre is asking people along the tree line and in the backcountry to be cautious.
"We're now warning people, even though it's wet out, there are areas that are still dry," said Marg Drysdale, fire information officer. "We have multiple microclimates on the coast here. Something can happen if you're not careful."
