OK Falls fire growing fast

A wildfire burning near Okanagan Falls had grown to 5,000 hectares – or 50 square kilometres – as of Thursday afternoon and showed no signs of letting up.

“I would think it’s fair to say it’s still going strong,” said BC Wildfire Service spokeswoman Taylor MacDonald.

Burning in the hills above Skaha Lake, the Thomas Creek fire had been pegged at 1,500 hectares as of Wednesday afternoon, but the weather was just right for it to put on a lot of size in a hurry.

“The growth there was kind of attributed to a combination of wind and heat and dry conditions,” said MacDonald.

While uncertain which way the fire was moving, she noted 33 personnel with assistance from helicopters and heavy equipment remained focused Thursday on building fuel breaks on the west and southwest flanks closest to Okanagan Falls.

The fire, which is suspected to be human-caused, lit up early Sunday afternoon in the hills approximately 1.5 kilometres east of Skaha Lake near the midway point of McLean Creek Road.

A total of 704 properties in the area are under an evacuation alert issued by the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen.

While the fire remains out of control, it “does not currently pose an imminent risk to structures,” the RDOS emergency operations centre stated in a press release Thursday afternoon.

All but small corners of British Columbia are listed at high to extreme risk of wildfires as continuing hot, dry and windy conditions fuel more than 300 blazes that were burning as of Thursday afternoon in most regions of the province.

Evacuation orders affecting more than 1,400 properties were posted for 10 of the 26 fires listed by the BC Wildfire Service as potentially threatening or highly visible.

Those fires also prompted an evacuation alert for the entire community of 100 Mile House, menaced by an 87-square-kilometre blaze that broke out last week, while separate alerts covered the villages of Ashcroft, Cache Creek and Savona as a nearly eight-squarekilometre fire remained uncontrolled.

More than 1,760 square kilometres of land has burned in B.C. since the wildfire season began on April 1.

Environment Canada forecasts show no end in sight for drought-like conditions, and the agency has issued air-quality advisories covering most of the province due to wildfire smoke.

B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth, who is facing calls to declare a provincial state of emergency, issued a statement Thursday that acknowledged “tensions for may are high.”

“I want to assure British Columbians that we are deploying all necessary and available personnel and equipment to respond to wildfires across the province,” said Farnworth.

“The federal government and the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre are providing firefighting personnel, aircraft support and other assets. The province will continue to do everything possible to protect communities from wildfires and help evacuate British Columbians where necessary.”