Contributed
UPDATE: 2:45 p.m
BC Wildfire Service is planning a predicted burn of approximately 200 hectares in the Yellow Lake and Sheep Creek area around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, taking advantage of mild winds and slightly cooler temperatures to fight the wildfire out of control of Keremeos Creek.
It will be very visible in the area and the highway may be slow for a while as they deal with rolling debris near Yellow Lake. It may be closed or delayed intermittently for short periods of time.
“Rolling debris can be anything from rocks, trees, anything that has come loose from a hillside, due to activity on the hillside,” said BCWS Information Officer Marg Drysdale at a briefing Wednesday.
“If you have steep slopes, that’s often a given and our crews deal with it a lot, simply because for them it can be a safety issue, if they’re down there. And they’re taught to be very careful and not -ho. in an area where there’s debris that can fall on them, but obviously they’ve left some debris on the road and they’re going to deal with it.”
Drysdale said they are lucky to have so much support at the site.
“Today we have 252 firefighters [on the wildfire,]” said Drysdale, a mix of BCWS firefighters and fire departments from across the interior.
“We have 10 helicopters on site and four pieces of heavy equipment. Additional heavy equipment will be arriving in the coming days.”
The size of the wildfire is still at 2,790 hectares and, according to Drysdale, may not be updated for about 24 hours due to the smoky areas of the fire making it difficult to cartography
Crews are looking at a four- to five-day window of good firefighting conditions before significant heat is expected to return. Drysdale says they are taking advantage of that window.
“That’s one of the reasons we have so many resources on this fire now. They can do a really big job in a short amount of time and move things along very quickly,” Drysdale said.
In the Okanagan Similkameen Regional District, 324 properties are under evacuation orders and 479 are under evacuation orders.
Residents are anxious to get back into their evacuated properties, and Drysdale said BCWS understands and is doing everything it can.
“We understand how stressful it is for people to be out of their homes. We take that very seriously. We raise orders and alerts as soon as we can,” Drysdale explained.
BCWS and the RDOS have been working closely with Chief Greg Gabriel with the Penticton Indian Band, among other band members and Lower and Upper Similkameen band members.
“It’s that relationship between the First Nations community and the emergency service agencies that just helps when these types of issues arise,” Gabriel said.
“[It] help that makes it easier in some ways that you can attack these facts in different ways.”
BCWS cannot predict potential fire longevity.
“But what I can say is that with the amount of resources and the conditions we have right now, we’re making fabulous progress and we expect to make great progress over the next few days,” Drysdale said.
Gabriel echoed the sentiment and added thanks to everyone working on the fire.
“I just want to make sure that everyone really recognizes everyone involved in keeping our community safe, especially the firefighters that are out there right now,” Gabriel said.
For more information on evacuation alerts and orders and to access an interactive map where you can enter your address to find out if the wildfire is affecting you, click here.
For the latest road closures and alerts, check DriveBC.ca.
Photo: BCWS
Lac Groc, August 3
UPDATE: 2 p.m
The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen Emergency Operations Center provides an update on the wildfire at 2 p.m.
Watch live above.
Photo: BCWS
Keremeos Creek wildfire from the air.
UPDATE: 11 a.m
Added more evacuation alerts related to the Keremeos Creek Wildfire.
A total of 41 properties have been added to the alert, mostly in the Grand Oro Road area in Electoral Area G and I, as well as two more properties along Highway 3A.
Total properties under evacuation order: 324 Total properties under evacuation alert: 479
The RDOS Emergency Support Service has registered 157 residents. Fifty-five are staying in local hotel rooms and another 10 are booking tickets to local homes.
ESS says that group hosting has been set up but is not currently in use.
An evacuee shelter is in place at Princess Margaret Secondary School at 120 Green Ave in Penticton. This reception center will be open today from 9 am to 5 pm.
For a complete list of affected properties and updates on evacuation alerts and orders, click here.
ORIGINAL: 9:40 a.m
BC Wildfire Service continues to attack the Keremeos Creek wildfire, which as of Wednesday morning is still estimated at 2,790 hectares.
It is still listed as out of control. The fire is located near Highway 3A in Yellow Lake, so while it was closed Tuesday, crews conducted small planned ignitions.
A control line is being advanced along the freeway that will limit growth and allow crews to safely access and establish containment lines.
More fires are expected in construction on the east flank of the fire in the next 24 hours.
More than 320 properties in the fire zone, including Apex Mountain Resort, remain under evacuation orders and hundreds more are on alert. Find a full list of orders and alerts here and information for evacuees here.
The resources that attack this fire now are:
- 137 firefighters
- 10 helicopters
- Four heavy equipment
- 137 wildland firefighters are assigned to this fire working with 115 additional structural protection personnel from fire departments across British Columbia for a total of 252 firefighters.
Structure protection will be established where and when needed as crews move forward with planned fires along Highway 3A.
Additional crews are establishing control lines from Green Mountain Road working west and preparing Cedar Creek Road for possible burn operations.