A new battleground on Nk’Mip Creek fire

Officials are expecting the Nk’Mip Creek fire to put on a show in the Oliver area in the days ahead.

The 16,000-hectare behemoth has been most active on the northwest flank high above McKinney Road approximately one kilometre west of town, according to Mike McCulley, spokesman for the BC Wildfire Service.

“This is the portion of the fire that is extremely visible from the town, from the highway. You can see it and you’re going to continue to see it,” McCulley told reporters during a press conference Thursday.

McCulley said steep terrain has made it difficult to get crews and equipment into the area and it’s possible the fire will creep downhill towards McKinney Road and a gas pipeline that runs alongside it, “so we’re looking ahead, trying to make sure our contingency plans are good.”

Crews have made progress on other parts of the fire, which led Thursday to the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen rescinding an evacuation alert for 251 properties in Area A and ending an evacuation order for 63 properties in Area C that are now under alert.

The 10,000-hectare Thomas Creek wildfire near Okanagan Falls has also been most active on its northwest flank, according to McCulley, but that area has limited fuel due to the 2020 Christie Mountain wildfire.

“I would also say that the fire continues to move slightly into the northeast into the Allendale area,” added McCulley, “and we do have some structure protection on some cabins in that area.”

Eight properties in that area remain under an evacuation order.

Over in the Similkameen, the Garrison Lake fire in Manning Park about 30 kilometres southwest of Princeton was bumped up in size Thursday from 8,400 to 10,000 hectares.

Part of Manning Park has been closed, while 158 properties, mainly in the Kennedy Lake and Eastgate communities, are under an evacuation order with structure protection units in place.

There was another spot of good news Thursday as the Brenda Creek wildfire burning near the Okanagan Connector about 40 kilometres west of West Kelowna is now considered held at 800 hectares.

“What that means is there’s no more growth expected on the fire with the current condition and the number of resources we have,” said McCulley.

He noted, though, that a “large ground force” remains on site to guard against any flare-ups on the fire, which at one point threatened a BC Hydro power line that supplies West Kelowna, Peachland and surrounding areas.

Owing to reduced fire activity, an evacuation order for 41 properties in the Headwaters area was lifted Thursday.

And while he said crews’ progress on all the fires is worth celebrating, McCulley cautioned people not to be lulled into a false sense of security.

“Even though we’re having some successes right now and we’re able to operate a little bit better with some slightly cooler temperatures, it’s only the first week of August,” he said.

“We have a long way to go.”