Delta Burns Bog fire 50% contained

The Burns Bog firein Delta, B.C., is about50 per cent contained, fire officials said Monday in a late Mondayafternoon news conference..

"We've made significant progress," said Delta Fire Chief Dan Copeland. "We've focused on the north flank of the fire."

Copeland saidfirefighters expect to make "significant" progress on the 78-hectare fireby the end of the day.

He said90 firefighters from a number of jurisdictions were battling the fire, buthe expected it would take a full week before the fire is fully extinguished.

Delta Police Chief Neil Dubord said the city will lift an evacuation order on businesses in the Tilbury Industrial Area on Progress Wayby 8 p.m. PT on Monday.

However, he said Highway 17, also known as the South Fraser Perimeter Road, is expected to remain closed from Highway 99 to the Highway 91 connector until Friday.

Dubord said the closure is to facilitate access for firefighters and to ensure the safety of driverswho have limited visibility because of smoke from the fire.

Delta Mayor Lois Jackson said fears that the fire wouldsink under the dry peat did not materliaze thanks in large part ot the fast response. She also saidthe water mound in the bogis high.

• Burns Bog blaze: Peat fires 'tricky' to extinguish

Jackson assured farmers fire retardant had not spread to nearby crops or agricultural lands.

She said there is still no call for an air quality advisory

Officials say they're still investigating the cause of the fire.

Bog expected to regenerate

Earlier on Monday, ElizaOlson,the founder of the Burns Bog Conservation Society said about 90 per cent of thepeat bog south of Vancouver is expected to regenerate in the coming years, but it could take a century before the entire area recovers from thefire tearing through it.

Olsonsaid the 30-square-kilometre nature reserve in Delta is believed to be the largest undeveloped urban wilderness area in North America.

"That's one of the beauties of having Burns Bog here in the water table," she said in an interview Monday.

"Because it's at the mouth of the Fraser River, it's an estuary-raised bog. You normally don't find a raised bog this far south."

Olsonsaid the bog's acidic, peat-forming ecosystem includes rare plants, such ascloudberries, calledbakeapplesin Newfoundland and Labrador, and velvet-leafed blueberries, along with two species of dragon flies among its diverse inspect species.

Most of Burns Bog is closed off to the public due to safety and conservation concerns, but about 60 hectares of an area called the Delta Nature Reserve is open and is often a site for school field trips.

Previous fire in 2005

The wildfire broke out just before noon on Sundayand quickly grew to over 50 hectares, despite the efforts of more than 100 firefighters from around the region and several air tankers.

One firefighter was taken to hospital over the weekend, but officials said it was for medical reasons not specifically related to the fire.

In 2005, a fire in Burns Bog grew to more than two square kilometres and took more than a week to put out.

With files from The Canadian Press