Another wildfire near Summerland prompts evacuation alert for 21 properties, park
One month after residents of Darke Lake Valley were placed on evacuation alert due to the Mount Eneas fire, a fresh alert was issued Monday night in response to a new threat.
The so-called Darke Creek fire lit up Monday night about 15 kilometres east of Summerland and was pegged at five hectares as of Tuesday afternoon by the B.C. Wildfire Service, which had 21 personnel, one helicopter and one water skimmer battling the blaze.
The evacuation alert issued by the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen warns residents of 21 properties and the Darke Lake Provincial Park to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
“The RDOS is aware that residents in this area were put on evacuation alert exactly one month ago due to the Mount Eneas fire. We can appreciate how the high activity of wildfires and the amount of smoke in the area can make residents feel uneasy,” the local government said in a press release.
“We want to thank all residents for preparations and patience during this time.”
To the south, approximately 1,000 properties near Keremeos remain under evacuation alert due to a trio of fires in that area, two of which grew substantially in recent days.
The Old Tom Creek fire, centred about seven kilometres west of Keremeos, ballooned from 144 to 527 hectares Tuesday.
And the Cool Creek blaze about 20 kilometres northeast of Eastgate jumped from 6,000 to 6,900 hectares.
Both the Old Tom Creek and Cool Creek fires are still considered out of control.
The third fire of note in the area, a 13,000-hectare blaze on Snowy Mountain, hasn’t grown recently and is considered under control.
Meanwhile, B.C. Premier John Horgan said Tuesday that successive provincial governments have budgeted “laughable” amounts of money to fight wildfires that are becoming all too common.
Horgan was flanked by the federal defence minister, the mayor of Prince George and a First Nations chief in Prince George as he said the sky in the northern city had turned jet black earlier in the day from fires burning in nearby communities.
The premier says wildfires have prompted an unprecedented second state of emergency in the province in the last 12 months, after floods this spring, but he’s confident that there’s enough contingency in the budget to provide the needed support.
Horgan travelled to the central Interior to meet with first responders who are fighting some of the more than 500 wildfires burning across the province.
More than 2,000 evacuees are in Prince George after being ordered out because of an 850-square-kilometre blaze threatening an area from Fraser Lake to Fort St. James.
Horgan was also expected to travel to Burns Lake, where three out-of-control fires have prompted evacuation orders and alerts to the east, south and southwest of that village.