Evacuees sent home as crews get upper hand on wildfires
Occupants of last home under evacuation order as a result of series of Okanagan wildÀres were allowed to go home Tuesday morning.
The home at 35888 Garnet Valley Rd. in Summerland is now under evacuation alert as a result of the Mount Eneas Àre.
Approximately 850 properties, including Okanagan Lake Provincial Park, remain under an evacuation alert, meaning residents should be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.
On Sunday, ÀreÀghters made the Mount Eneas Àre much bigger — as they intentionally merged two Àres into one.
Using a helicopter to drop plastic balls containing a chemical that burst into Áame on impact, the BC WildÀre Service burned off about 150 hectares of ground cover between the Mount Eneas and Munro FSR Àres.
“Our choice came down to do it now, when we’re kind of initiating it, or wait for the wind to do it on its own,” incident commander Glen Burgess told reporters at an afternoon brieÀng.
“When this burn is completed, if everything goes as planned, we’ll be in a much better position,” he added later.
“We’ll have the Àre out to containment lines where our crews can work on it and we won’t have any largescale pieces of unburned fuel that we’re worried about going up later on.”
The Mount Eneas was estimated at 1,793 hectares in size on Tuesday morning. The BC WildÀre Service said the Àre is classiÀed as out of control and exhibiting rank 1 and rank 2 Àre behaviour.
Burgess, who’s managing a handful of Okanagan Àres, said a forecasted spike in temperatures later in the week also helped him decide to pull the trigger Sunday while it was still relatively cool.
And with crews beginning to gain the upper hand, he suggested property owners would also be able to rest easier.
“If everything goes as expected, we’re hoping we’ll be able to make a recommendation to downgrade alerts, orders and whatever else is left,” said Burgess, adding he was not aware of any structures being lost to the Mount Eneas Àre.
“We’re seeing a lot of success, so right now we’re just extinguishing the hot spots and still trying to get containment around the Àre,” BC WildÀre Service spokeswoman Noelle Kekula added.
“Now that we’ve brought it up onto some workable terrain, we’re making some good progress.”
Elsewhere, the Mount Conkle Àre southwest of Summerland was pegged at 118 hectares. It’s mostly contained and not expected to grow.
In Okanagan Mountain Park, the Goode’s Creek Àre had bulged to 577 hectares, but there were no evacuation orders or alerts attached to it.
In West Kelowna, the Law Creek Àre was listed at 16 hectares. on Tuesday. After threatening Upper Glenrosa last week, the Àre is not expected to grow any further as ÀreÀghters now have the upper hand.
Two Àres were still burning near Naramata: the 25hectare GlenÀr Àre and 55-hectare Paradise Ranch Àre, neither of which was listed as a Àre of note by the service.
The Snowy Mountain Àre about 14 kilometres south of Keremeos was pegged at 1,360 hectares, but with no efforts being made to contain it due to its remote location and rugged terrain.
Also in the Similkameen, the Placer Mountain Àre 37 kilometres south of Princeton had grown to 320 hectares with 18 personnel, three helicopters and seven pieces of heavy equipment at the scene.