Too close for comfort
An impressive aerial show continued Monday as a small fleet of aircraft did battle with the Skaha Creek wildfire on a ridge overlooking Penticton.
The fire, which is suspected to be human-caused, started Saturday afternoon in the hills approximately four kilometres west of Penticton Regional Airport and had grown to 212 hectares as of Monday, according to the BC Wildfire Service.
As of press time late Monday afternoon, there had been no evacuation orders or alerts issued.
While smoke was visible from most parts of Penticton throughout the weekend, flames couldn’t be seen until Sunday evening, when wind helped the fire’s western flank crest a ridge above the Penticton Indian Reserve.
Although not fearful for her life or property, Skaha Hills resident Jeannie Lister wasn’t taking any chances as the fire came into view several hundred metres above the community.
“When it started coming over that hill fast, I was getting all my files together — and lots of people were doing that,” said Lister on Monday afternoon as she observed the action.
“A lot of people in the condos got their cars out of their garages and were ready to go. Nobody ever called us and said, ‘You are on alert,’ or anything like that, but the speed that it was coming, we just felt like we should do something.”
Lister’s fears were calmed by a shift in the wind that started pushing smoke back up the hill and away from the subdivision of approximately 200 homes that’s located on the Penticton Indian Reserve just southwest of city limits.
The BC Wildfire Service had approximately 70 personnel and eight pieces of heavy equipment on the ground Monday, along with air tankers, water skimmers and helicopters assisting from above. More help is expected to arrive today.
Crews spent Monday doing direct attacks on the east flank and putting out spot fires that crossed Skaha Creek Road, while heavy equipment built guards on the west and north flanks.
“It’s the condition of the fuels right now —they’re very dry— and we had some winds (Sunday), which is what we we’re kind of battling. So it’s just a combination of those two factors,” said BC Wildfire Service spokeswoman Rosalyn Johnson.
“We’re throwing as many resources at it as we can and making sure that we limit that growth.”
Johnson said the pilot of one of the water skimmers had to make a “precautionary landing” Monday on Skaha Lake and parked the aircraft on a beach while waiting for an engineer to assess the problem.
Pilots spent the weekend going head-to-head with some boaters on Okanagan Lake who weren’t giving the aircraft much room to work.