B.C. town of 11,000 given evacuation order
Gusts of up to 70 km/h in forecast have officials and residents on high alert
WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C.— Thousands of Williams Lake residents are being forced from their homes as high winds fan a wildfire burning next to the community.
An evacuation order was issued Saturday evening for the entire City of Williams Lake and numerous areas surrounding the city of 11,000 that have been under threat from nearby fires for almost a week.
Cariboo Regional District Chariman Al Richmond said winds began to pick up Saturday afternoon, prompting an expansion of evacuation alerts.
Approximately half of the residents of Williams Lake have already left.
Officials previously said forecast lightning and wind gusts of up to 70 km/h starting Saturday and developing into Sunday could cause a substantial increase in wildfire activity in British Columbia’s central and southern Interior.
BC Wildfire Service said Saturday there are about 161 active wildfires in the province, 14 of which pose a direct threat to communities.
Raging wildfires have already displaced more than 17,000 people, while the provincial government says another 27,000 people have been told they may need to leave their homes at a moment’s notice.
Many of Williams Lake’s residents had left voluntarily, however the order means thousands more will be headed to safety in Kamloops.
“Given these winds, we are expect- ing the very real possibility of extreme and violently aggressive fire behaviour out there,” Kevin Skrepnek, B.C.’s chief fire information officer, said Saturday.
Skrepnek said crews have been “using fire to fight fire” and conducted controlled burns in the paths of fires near Williams Lake, 100 Mile House and 150 Mile House to prevent them from spreading.
More than 160 fires are burning, with14 posing a direct threat on communities, Skrepnek said. Fire suppression this season has cost the province $77 million. That does not include the cost of helping evacuees.
An evacuation order was issued Saturday morning for the remote Clisbako area in the Cariboo region.
It follows an order issued Friday evening for an estimated 338 structures and residences in the Loon Lake area of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, which was the first new evacuation since Wednesday.
Skrepnek said he’s not aware of any homes or structures in the community having been destroyed, but assessments will be made once it’s safe enough for officials to enter the area.
The province is reminding evacuees to register with the Canadian Red Cross and, if they need lodging or food, to register at emergency social services reception centres as well.
Officials said more than 80 per cent of the 6,150 households registered with the Red Cross will have received funds by the end of Saturday.