Police nab thieves in cleared out areas
Mounties step up patrols as officials craft plans to relocate people, fight wildfires
It’s one thing to have to leave your home because of wildfires; it’s a whole other to learn there are thieves about, looking to take advantage of emptied-out communities.
But with 100 Mile House evacuated and Williams Lake on alert, the RCMP say some people look to be doing just that.
Ten arrests have been made in the evacuated 100 Mile House and Williams Lake areas for break and enter and mischief. All of those arrests were people known to police. The RCMP said: “There is no tolerance for criminal activities within the evacuated areas.”
More than 300 Mounties have been sent from other B.C. detachments and 40 others from Alberta to communities in the B.C. Interior. Their main duties are to help with evacuations of fire-affected communities, 24-hour patrols of evacuated areas, and road safety.
The RCMP confirmed that plans are in place for mass evacuations, including by air, should that be necessary and that the RCMP is working with provincial government teams to assist, should that be required.
Evacuees from 100 Mile House were told Tuesday they faced at least another week away from their homes; they were ordered out of the area on Sunday evening.
With concern high that the weather forecast for today could drive the Hanceville fires, a complex of fires burning 100 kilometres west of Williams Lake, toward the city, residents of the entire city have been on evacuation alert since Monday evening.
Areas to the west and north of Williams Lake are already under evacuation orders. Williams Lake evacuees should head for Prince George, Emergency Management B.C.’s Bob Turner said Tuesday.
The fire burning near Ashcroft and Cache Creek was still of concern and officials said in a revised count that 60 homes in Boston Flats, near Ashcroft, had been destroyed by the weekend’s fire.
There were also major fires burning near Princeton in the southern interior; south of Quesnel; and near Fort Fraser, east of Prince George.
HELP COMING
“Our focus is on protecting life and property,” Rob Schweitzer of the B.C. Wildfire Service’s told evacuees in a public meeting on Tuesday in Kamloops.
There is no tolerance for criminal activities within the evacuated areas.
He said he hoped to see containment percentages of fires go up in the coming days — most are currently listed as completely uncontained.
There are approximately 1,000 firefighters from the wildfire service in the field, with local community firefighters working to protect buildings at risk.
Tuesday afternoon, Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services announced six members of the city’s heavy urban search-and-rescue unit (called Canada Task Force-1) were being sent to the provincial emergency operations centres in Prince George and Kamloops.
Also, a fire engine and four firefighters headed to Williams Lake.
“Further resources, including personnel, apparatus, hose, communications equipment and a trailer-mounted pumping unit are standing by awaiting requests for further support from Emergency Management B.C.,” the department’s Capt. Jonathan Gormick said in a media release.
Wildfire crews from Alberta arrived in Kamloops on Tuesday. In all, 310 firefighters were expected to arrive this week from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick and Parks Canada.
SMOKE PRESENTING HEALTH RISKS
The smoke throughout the region was dangerous to human health and people should do their best to stay inside, deputy provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry advised. Many areas are dealing with smoke levels that are far above what’s recommended for human health.
Children, elderly and those with heart or respiratory problems are urged to avoid strenuous outdoors activities. Even otherwise healthy people are at risk.
The B.C. government measures air quality on a scale of one to 10 with measures of 1-3 representing a low health risk, 4-6 a moderate health risk, 7-10 a high health risk, and anything over 10 — off the chart — a very high health risk.
Williams Lake’s air quality health index rating Tuesday morning was 36.
More than 14,000 people are under evacuation orders as firefighters battle more than 219 wildfires in the region.
Since the beginning of the fire season on April 1, 430 square kilometres have burned and $53.5 million has been spent to date. The average burned area for the last 10 years on this date is 480 square kilometres.