Blaze south of Peachland could be at maximum size
Commander with BC Wildfire Service says Mount Eneas fire not expected to grow further
While the Mount Eneas wildfire south of Peachland is still considered out of control, fire crews don’t expect it to get any bigger.
On Sunday, crews merged the Mount Eneas fire with the Munro Creek FSR fire.
“The expectation was we would bring the two fires together and reduce our perimeter that we were going to have to contain as well as improve safety for the public and our first responders, and we met those objectives,” Glen Burgess, incident commander of the Okanagan complex for the BC Wildfire Service, said Tuesday.
To merge the fires, BC Wildfire Service crews used a helicopter to drop plastic balls containing a chemical that burst into flames on impact.
The majority of crews are now working to extinguish hot spots, said Burgess.
“We still have a lot of resources on the scene, and we’re certainly not downsizing in any size, shape or fashion, but at the end of the day we’re real happy with where that’s going,” he said. “Crews are continuing to beat away at it.”
Crews are also working overnight to ensure there are no bad surprises during the night.
In Okanagan Mountain Park, rocky, steep terrain is challenging fire crews fighting three wildfires burning there.
“The terrain . . . is a piece of literally open sheer rock with small gullies that are filled with vegetation and debris, and that’s where it’s burning, but we can’t put crews down into those gullies,” said Burgess. “It’s literally a death trap to put people down there, so that’s limiting our options.”
Most of the growth in all three fires in Okanagan Mountain Park has been upslope and away from Kelowna, said Burgess.
No structures are imminently threatened by the fires, he added.
Currently, the biggest concern for crews is wind, which could reignite fires, said Burgess.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Mount Eneas fire, located about four kilometres south of Peachland, was estimated at 1,793 hectares.
The Glenfir Road fire, 10 kilometres northwest of Naramata, was estimated at 32 hectares.
The Goode’s Creek fire, in Okanagan Mountain Park near Kelowna, was estimated at 577 hectares.
The Law Creek fire, located six kilometres southwest of West Kelowna, was estimated at 16 hectares.
The Mount Conkle fire, located about eight kilometres southwest of Summerland, was estimated at 118 hectares.
Elsewhere in B.C., a wildfire flared five kilometres east of the community of Spences Bridge late Monday, affecting travel along Highway 1, but conditions eased slightly overnight, allowing a pilot car to escort travellers through the area.
The BC Wildfire Service said the blaze was just under one square kilometre in size and the cause is under investigation.
It was reported at around 4 p.m., prompting the Thompson-Nicola Regional District to issue an evacuation order for three properties nearest the flames and an evacuation alert for Spences Bridge and part of the surrounding area.
The evacuation order was downgraded just hours later as firefighters managed to push the flames away from the homes and nearby Highway 1.
Drive BC, the provincial government’s online service for travellers, said Tuesday afternoon that Highway 1 was open to single-lane, alternating traffic led by a pilot car, but drivers were cautioned that the route could close again at any time if the fire shifts.
Recent downpours in central and northeastern B.C. have helped push the fire danger rating to low or very low in many parts of the province, but the northwestern corner and southern third of the province remain at a high or extreme risk of wildfires.