Optimism takes hold of crews on fire line

More evacuees allowed to return home; calm weather inspires some confidence firefighters ‘are making gains’

The Philpott Road fire is still active, but crews are starting to get a better handle on it, says Noelle Kekula, a fire information officer with the BC Wildfire Service.

“We’re not seeing a lot of fire behaviour on the fire today,” Kekula said Wednesday. “We’re taking advantage of this calm weather and trying to make as many gains as we can.”

Challenges in fighting the fire in Joe Rich, which started last Thursday, include the steep terrain and the lack of available water, said Kekula.

“The preference is always to find a nice water source, but we are having to use alternative methods like our bladders and water tender trucks,” she said. “But that’s not stopping us from fighting it aggressively. We’re still working as hard as we can.”

More than 100 residents were permitted to return home Wednesday as more evacuation orders were downgraded to evacuation alerts.

Fifty-three properties with about 125 residents were taken off evacuation order, including homes on Greystokes Road, Highway 33 East, Thelwell Road and Three Forks Road.

About 35 properties, home to 77 residents, remain on evacuation order on Philpott Road, while 1,023 residents from 439 properties remain on evacuation alert.

“There is some confidence that we are making gains,” said Kekula.

However, fire activity will likely continue for a while, she said.

“It’s still so dry and the terrain is so steep; it’s going to smoke for a while, and I don’t know how long it will take us to get 100 per cent containment, but that’s our goal.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, the fire was estimated at 465 hectares at 20 per cent containment.

Although people are being allowed to return home, Kekula said residents should be reminded it is still an active fire zone.

“When people are driving along Highway 33, you’re going to see active fires; you’ll see trees candling,” she said. “The fire is not out.”

Crews from the BC Wildfire Service and surrounding fire departments are continuing to work on the fire day and night.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Philpott Road access was closed at Highway 33 to all vehicles except emergency and forestry vehicles.

Highway 33 is open in both directions in the fire zone between Schram Road and Cardinal Creek Road with reduced speed.

Residents returning home can bring household pets, including dogs and cats, with them. However, other animals are not permitted back at this time due to the uncertainty of fire behaviour and the potential for reinstating evacuation orders.

Effective at noon Wednesday, an area restriction was put in place for Crown land in the area. No one is permitted to enter the restricted areas without the prior official written authorization.

“People that live in the area can travel to and from their principal residence or secondary residence, but you can’t just go and walk in and around the fire,” said Kekula. “You need to stay on the main roads because it’s still an active fire. It’s for public safety and so that people do not interfere with fire suppression activities.”

The restriction will remain in effect until Sept. 15.

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — British Columbia’s tourism industry is taking a hit with businesses reporting rising cancellations and decreased traffic over fears of wildfires.

Maya Lange with Destinations BC, the province’s tourism planning and marketing corporation, said Wednesday preliminary results from a survey of businesses in the Kootenay-Rockies region found that 32 per cent are anticipating losses due to perceptions of the fires.

“We are very concerned. Just looking at the volume of visitation and the volume of trips that are taken by British Columbian and Albertan residents alone . . . especially in the months of July and August, we think there will be a significant impact.”

She said one business in the region alone reported it has lost $100,000 due to cancellations in July.

The Thompson-Okanagan region has been hardest hit by wildfires, and Lange said 47 per cent of businesses in the area are reporting some sort of interruption this summer, such as cancellations or road closures.

Barkerville Historic Town and Park, a provincially operated attraction, has also reported a 54 per cent decline in visits comparing July 7 to Aug. 21 this year to last year, which caused a 50 per cent drop in net revenue.

Businesses are encouraged to contact their customers and reassure them it is still safe to travel in an effort to avoid cancellations. Lange said businesses are also being told to share photos of their sites on social media so people can see the region is safe and accessible.

Lange said Destinations BC has a marketing campaign underway to better inform travellers that most of the province remains safe to explore, but it’s expected that losses to the industry will be significant once the total numbers for the season are calculated.

The BC Wildfire Service said there have been 1,154 fires sparked since April 1, burning more than 10,600 square kilometres of land, and there is no sign of fire activity slowing down soon.

Although a 1,750-square-kilometre fire in the Thompson-Nicola region is now 50 per cent contained, fire information officer Ryan Turcot said unstable weather conditions bringing gusty winds have caused the blaze to spread.

An evacuation order for an area south of Highway 24, including properties around Watch Lake, Horse Lake and Little Green Lake, was expanded as a result of the blaze.

A wildfire burning south of the border in Washington state has also moved into B.C. toward the community of Newgate, which is about 90 kilometres southeast of Cranbrook.

The fire was about 650 hectares in size on the U.S. side of the border and had spread to about 30 hectares in B.C. on Wednesday. Turcot said the wildfire service was working with its U.S. counterpart to fight the blaze and helicopters from both countries were waterbombing hot spots.