A growing wildfire near a mountain resort in British Columbia prompted an evacuation order for the village Monday morning.
Burning southwest of Penticton, the Keremeos Creek wildfire was measured at 437 hectares Sunday evening. But by Monday afternoon, the out-of-control fire had grown dramatically and measured 2,264 hectares, according to the British Columbia Wildfire Service.
Hundreds more evacuation orders were issued Monday, including dozens in Apex Mountain Village. Those in the area were told to leave immediately and expect the RCMP to help expedite the process.
An evacuation order was also announced Monday by the Lower Similkameen Indian Band for some properties around Green Mountain Road. One was also declared for properties in G and I constituencies, including part of Olalla.
“There are crews working in the area, so while there may not necessarily be an immediate danger to these homes, such as a fire outside the building, it could be because there are fire crews in that area doing important and dangerous job. So having people in the area is not ideal,” said Eric Thompson, information officer for the Okanagan-Similkameen Regional District.
An evacuation center has been set up at Princess Margaret High School at 120 Green Ave. in Penticton.
Thompson is urging anyone whose property is under an evacuation order or warning to register with the province, even if they don’t need immediate help.
“If you sign up, you have access to services, and that can really help you identify who’s in the area and who’s not,” he said. “There are a number of property owners who are not present, and if they are in another part of the province or another province, it can really help identify who needs service.”
Nearly 250 properties fall under the new evacuation order and another 110 properties are under an evacuation alert. Thompson says now is the time for those people to prepare.
“It’s really important to have a grab-and-go kit. So anyone who is under an evacuation alert should take those steps in advance,” Thompson said.
“During an evacuation order, when people must leave immediately, they should not take boats and trailers. This can block the escape route. It’s important that people keep that in mind. During an evacuation alert, this is the time to move these important items.
The fire was discovered Friday and officials say it has been a challenge to fight because much of the blaze “is located in terrain that is unusable for air tankers and heavy machinery maintenance.”
According to the British Columbia Wildfire Service, 144 personnel have already been assigned to the fire, with more expected to join the fight in the coming days.
“We are really bringing in the resources that we need to attack this fire as aggressively as possible,” said fire information officer Brian Zandberg. “A heat advisory has been put in place and we are concerned about our crews with heat exhaustion and just being out in this kind of difficult terrain and bad weather. However, we have plans for that.”
Nine helicopters are also being used to drop water on the fire, which Zandberg said is burning in steep, rocky terrain that is difficult for crews and ground equipment to reach.
He said weather conditions were favorable in the morning but changed in the afternoon with strong winds feeding the fire with oxygen.
“We had rank four and rank five fire behavior yesterday, so it’s a very intense fire,” Zandberg said. “You see trees light up, you see a little bit of organized flame up front. Especially in this inaccessible terrain.
Local fire departments, including Keremeos, Naramata and Summerland, sent crews and trucks to focus on protecting the structures. At least one structure was destroyed.
Over the weekend, Apex Mountain Resort deployed its snow cannons to spray water on its buildings and infrastructure in an attempt to keep them from catching fire from wind-blown embers.
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