Hundreds still evacuated as fight grinds on
More than 350 personnel were on the ground Monday as the battle against the Keremeos Creek wildfire about southwest of Penticton stretched into a third week.
Since it was reported July 29, the fire has scorched just shy of 7,000 hectares in the area straddling the South Okanagan and Similkameen.
As of Monday afternoon, 273 properties remained under evacuation order — including all of Apex Mountain Resort — while another 399 were on alert.
Despite reporting “good progress” over the weekend due to favourable conditions, the BC Wildfire Service continued grappling with uncontrolled fire growth on the west flank, where rugged terrain is hampering crews and equipment.
As such, the service’s crews are “blacklining” that section of the fire: removing all combustible material within eight metres of the perimeter from Keremeos Creek Road to Green Mountain Road, and within 24 m of the perimeter along Olalla Creek Road and Highway 3A.
And structure protection units remain in place at Apex Mountain Resort and along Green Mountain Road.
“Nearby communities can still expect to see smoke within the fire's perimeter over the coming weeks. This is common with large wildfires, and smoke will continue to be visible until there is significant rainfall over the fire,” the BC Wildfire Service said in a Monday update on its website.
“Smoke appearing from well within the fire perimeter and burned material is common. However, smoke that rises from green, unburned fuel or from outside of fire’s perimeter should be reported.”
As of Monday afternoon, the service had 329 firefighters, 27 structure protection personnel, 17 helicopters and 22 pieces of heavy equipment in the fight and was sharing resources with another fire at nearby Richter Mountain.
That fire, which was sparked at the side of Highway 3 early on Aug. 12 about 17 kilometres west of Osoyoos, was considered held at 80 hectares as of Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the BC Wildfire Service said 80% of the 212 new fires sparked across the province since Aug. 10 were caused by lightning.
Briana Hill said the service was well prepared and the majority of fires ignited by the strikes are now classified as out, under control or being held.
While it’s not unusual as August is typically an active month for lightning strikes in the province – second only to July – Hill said what is somewhat unusual is four consecutive days with widespread lightning strikes.
She also noted that though officials were concerned about wind causing fires to spread quickly and unpredictably throughout the weekend, the service was pleasantly surprised it did not have a significant impact.
The service is now predicting rising temperatures and less convection, which means much less lightning activity is expected in the coming week.