The Keremeos Creek wildfire north of Keremeos, BC on July 29.HO/The Canadian Press
Hundreds of Interior BC residents were on evacuation alert over the weekend as two wildfires in the province grew after a week of dry conditions during a heat wave in western Canada.
The Keremeos Creek fire was discovered Friday about 23 kilometers south of Penticton in the Okanagan Valley. More than 300 properties were on evacuation alert as of Sunday afternoon and 25 homes were under an evacuation order that was being assisted by the RCMP.
Meanwhile, a large wildfire continued to burn near Lytton, a BC town east of Vancouver that was almost completely destroyed by fire in 2021. Fortunately, most of the fire activity is developed outside the city.
The BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) said the Keremeos fire had grown to more than four square kilometers after “aggressive and erratic fire behaviour” on Saturday, which was aided by high temperatures in the area that reached to 40 degrees in the last few days. There was minimal growth Saturday night, but BCWS spokeswoman Melanie Bibeau said Sunday morning that conditions indicated the fire was intensifying as temperatures rose throughout the day.
BC’s wildfire season got off to a slow start in the southern half of the province thanks to cold temperatures, wet weather and a heavy snowpack in the late spring and early summer. However, Ms. Bibeau said residents should be prepared now that persistent dry and hot conditions across the province have led to an increased fire risk.
Forty members of the BCWS battled the Keremeos Creek Fire on Sunday and a helicopter was assisting ground crews. The service said heavy smoke was preventing three other helicopters from being used and that the terrain was not currently suitable for an aerial tanker to fight the wildfire.
Meanwhile, the fire near Lytton, dubbed the Nohomin Creek Fire, has been burning since July 14, and is now estimated to be more than 18 square miles. The fire threatened communities on the west side of the Fraser River, which is across from the main town of Lytton on the east bank.
However, BCWS spokesperson Karley Desrosiers said most of the activity was now taking place on the northwest edge of the fire, meaning it was moving away from areas where people live toward the extremes south and east of the fire.
The Thompson Nicola Regional District and Lytton First Nation have lifted evacuation orders for some properties, but still told residents near the fire to be prepared to evacuate if the situation changes. About 30 other addresses in the Lytton area remained under evacuation orders.
Eighty-nine firefighters and 11 helicopters were working to control the fire on Sunday. Crews were working to extinguish the remaining hot spots on the eastern side of the fire.
High temperatures are expected to persist in the Okanagan Valley, with highs of 30 degrees or higher expected for most of next week in both Penticton and Lytton.
Ms Desrosiers said those temperatures will be at least cooler than the week before in Lytton, when highs of 40 degrees forced crews to take 15- to 20-minute breaks every hour to stay hydrated and avoid exhaustion heat
“Once we get to the 40-degree temperatures, it becomes a health and safety concern,” Ms. Desrosiers, who said these temperatures are favorable for fire growth and create a difficult environment for firefighters to work in.
Daniel Mundall, who lives in the Lytton area and had his store and barn burned in the Nohomin Creek fire last year, said people have been able to breathe a little easier as the fire away to the north.
“There’s always the possibility that something could blow up and there’s still things smoking here and there, but it’s definitely calmed down a little bit here compared to what it was,” said Mr. Mundall, who was already working on rebuilding parts of his property. that was burned
“We will start cleaning here; we have an excavator We’re not wasting time or waiting for help, it’s a matter of getting started and making things happen.”
Elsewhere, a large fire in northern Manitoba continued to burn, but the province’s wildfire service said favorable weather conditions were reducing the risk to a nearby First Nation. The Mathias Colomb Cree Nation has been evacuated for weeks because of its proximity to the fire, which is estimated to be more than 500 square kilometers. Another 42 wildfires were burning in the province, but the wildfire service said no other fires posed a threat to communities.
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