PIB chief praises wildfire response
The chief of the Penticton Indian Band is offering kind words to B.C. Wildfire Service for its cooperation during the week-old Keremeos Creek wildfire.
“It’s a huge move forward from previous years,” PIB Chief Greg Gabriel said during the regional district’s daily press conference, Wednesday.
“I applaud B.C. Wildfire and firefighters for the amazing job and the dedication that they do. They have gone the extra steps to engage our community, with our knowledge keepers, to identify our really important cultural and heritage sites and be aware to ensure that they’re protected.”
Band council has placed 10 homes under evacuation alert. The wildfire, at press deadline, has not yet impacted reserve land.
But, the fire remains close. By comparison, there are 324 properties in the RDOS Areas G and I under evacuation order with an additional 479 on alert.
RDOS chief administrative officer Bill Newell thanked the band for its cooperation
“When we ordered everyone out of Apex, they had to go through the reserve. There was heavy traffic and we relied on the PIB to take care of that aspect. The PIB, as well as Lower Similkameen and Upper Similkameen bands, have been excellent partners to work with.”
Highway 3A was reopened in both directions, Wednesday, but smoke limits visibility.
The roadway was closed for a short time in the afternoon due to rolling debris.
“We close roads only as needed,” fire information officer Marg Drysdale from B.C. Wildfire said. “We do not like to impact any infrastructure unless it’s absolutely necessary. We do have to make sure it’s safe for people to travel on those routes.”
Drysdale said there have been reports of motorists stopping on the highway to take photographs which she said is dangerous.
The fire, 21 km southwest of Penticton, is being battled by 137 wildland firefighters with an additional 115 structural protection personnel for a combined total of 252. There are four pieces of heavy equipment and 10 helicopters. The fire, discovered last Friday, is presently 2,790 hectares in size.
“We have a four to five-day window with fairly good conditions. We expect moderate winds, lower temperatures and that’s one of the reasons we have so many people on the ground right now. After that, we expect it will get hot again,” Drysdale said.
The B.C. Wildfire Service says five fires that either threaten public safety or are highly visible are now burning in the province, up from two just a day earlier.
The blazes newly identified as "fires of note" include a nearly nine-squarekilometre fire northwest of Cache Creek in the Kamloops fire centre, another that has burned roughly two square kilometres northwest of Kamloops, and a third in the Southeast fire centre covering 15 square kilometres between Kaslo and New Denver.
Evacuation alerts are posted for the fire northwest of Kamloops, the blaze outside Kaslo and for one of the remaining two wildfires of note, the 37-square-kilometre fire near the Stein Valley west of Lytton.