Crews work to push Foxley River peat fire toward the ocean

Firefighters in western P.E.I. continue to fight a fire in a peat bog Tuesday that's been burning since Monday afternoon.

The bog is connected to Gulf Island Peat Moss in Foxley River, north of Tyne Valley.

Staff from P.E.I.'s forests, fish and wildlife division are on scene alongside volunteer firefighters, said Mike Montigny, field services manager with the division.

They are trying to push the fire toward the ocean, he added, and the wind is helping out.

"We're working with the wind to help direct that fire to where we need it to go," Montigny said.

If they can do that, he said, there is a much lower risk that the fire will spread.

"The wind yesterday was quite a hazard and the heat and the dry weather is not helping matters any at all. It will be burning for a few days yet," said Tyne Valley Fire Department Chief William Bishop.

There are no structures in the area, and officials say they're working to keep the fire from spreading to the nearby forest.

Gulf Island Peat Moss is actively harvesting about 400 hectares of bog. Bishop said the working area of the fire is about 20 hectares. In an email, the province reported the fire to be covering seven hectares.

"There was a lot of smoke when we arrived on scene last night … a lot of embers flying, because it's a very fine material," Montigny said.

The fire is contained, but Bishop and Montigny both said peat is a challenging material to extinguish.

"The vegetation will continue to burn, smoulder," Montigny said. "We put water on it, it will hide itself for a bit and it will pop back up."

There is no natural water source nearby, he said, so tanker trucks are delivering water to holding tanks.

Montigny said they don't yet know the cause of the fire, but the priority right now is to continue to keep it contained.

The division's staff has experience fighting these types of fires in other parts of Canada, he said, and are using that knowledge on the ground now.

There is always a concern about fires spreading, he added.

"The wind is the real driving factor for us right now."

More heat coming

Firefighters can't expect much help from the weather, either.

Winds are forecast to continue at 20 km/h through Tuesday and Wednesday, and it will be unseasonably warm. The forecast high is 25 C Tuesday and 30 C by Thursday. Outside of a 30 per cent chance of showers Thursday, there is no rain in the forecast until Sunday.

The wind is forecast to continue to blow out of the southwest, and not tend to push the fire inland.

Weather conditions have been dry this spring. In May, Summerside saw only about 20 per cent of its normal rainfall. June has been a little damper, but is on pace to see only about half of regular rainfall.

The province lists the risk of forest fires as high in Prince County, and all burning permits have been suspended.