More evacuations as 300 fires burn across province
MERRITT — A regional politician in the Interior is calling for more support amid a "dire" wildfire situation that he says has filled every available hotel with fleeing evacuees and stretched local resources beyond their capacity.
Ken Gillis, chairman of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, says the district has put in a request with Emergency Management B.C. for an additional 100 to 150 personnel.
Gillis signed three additional evacuation orders over the weekend and had to direct the final batch of evacuees to find their way to Kelowna, more than 100 kilometres away, because of the lack of accommodations in closer communities like Kamloops.
Roughly 300 wildfires are burning across British Columbia and new evacuation orders were issued for properties in several regions.
The BC Wildfire Service currently lists the wildfire danger as high to extreme across most of the southern half of B.C., while cool, damp weather has significantly dropped the danger rating in the northern half.
Thirty-seven blazes, 12 per cent of all B.C. fires, are rated as highly visible or a threat to life or property.
"It's a nightmare," Gillis. "We have absolutely nothing left (for accommodations) in Kamloops, we have nothing left in Merritt, we have nothing left in Salmon Arm.
“They're absolutely full."
Gillis said he considered directing evacuees to Cache Creek, but decided against it because that community is under an evacuation alert.
When there is an alert, residents are asked to prepare to leave at a moment's notice.
"Some of the places are just places we can't send people to because two hours from then we might need to uproot them and send them somewhere else."
SOME GOOD NEWS
The Brenda Creek wildfire west of Peachland was burning less aggressively Monday than in previous days, the B.C. Wildfire Service said.
Forty firefighters, two helicopters, and 11 pieces of heavy equipment were working the fire Monday.
The size of the fire was reduced slightly, to 450 hectares from an earlier estimate of more than 500 ha.
Municipal firefighters from West Kelowna, Kelowna, and Peachland have also been deployed.
They are working to protect the B.C. Hydro transmission line from Merritt, which is the only power source serving a region of about 50,000 people.
Fourteen municipal firefighters are damping down hotspots around the line and thinning trees and brush, says the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre.
Evacuation orders remain in effect for 42 properties the Headwaters area (Area H) of the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen. Evacuation alerts remain in place for Eneas Lakes, Pennask Lake, Trapanier and Pennask Creek provincial parks, as well as 18 properties in the Central Okanagan regional district and three in the Thomson-Nicola regional district.
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After having its official size taken down a notch Sunday, the Thomas Creek wildfire near Okanagan Falls flared up to 6,600 hectares on Monday.
Heading into the weekend, the fire was pegged at 5,500 hectares — or 55 square kilometres — by the BC Wildfire Service, which downgraded its estimate to 5,400 hectares on Sunday as a result of better mapping.
And then? “We started to see an increase in fire behaviour (Sunday) and we knew we were going to have a fairly active day, which we did,” said BCWS spokesman Mike McCulley in an interview Monday.
Thankfully, the fire has been growing to the north and east, away from Okanagan Falls and towards the 201 Forest Service Road, which is doing double-duty as a fuel break.
The fire has made “a few small excursions” across the road, according to McCulley, but “nothing that our crews have not been able to effectively manage with the help of heavy equipment.”
There were 23 pieces of heavy equipment at the scene Monday, along with 10 helicopters, 23 firefighters and 30 support staff.
The fire, which is suspected to be humancaused, lit up July 11 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.
An area restriction is also in place to keep
the public away from the fire scene, although the 201 Forest Service Road remains open – for now.
“There are danger trees all along the 201, and while access isn’t currently restricted, we’re exploring that now and we would ask the public to please avoid the area if they can,” added McCulley.
Anyone who does have to travel that route is asked to obey any instructions they receive from government officials or checkpoint staff along the way.
The fire at Thomas Creek is now being managed by a dedicated BCWS team in conjunction with a 450-hectare blaze at Brenda Creek approximately three kilometres south of the Okanagan Connector near Peachland. The BCWS is describing the pair collectively as the Okanagan Complex fire.