Contributed
UPDATE: 5:55 p.m
The Keremeos Creek wildfire has grown again.
It is now estimated at 4,250 hectares. This is a big increase from the last update, when it was 2,750 hectares.
The British Columbia Wildfire Service says the change in size is due to both natural fire and planned fires.
BCWS adds that the change in the shape of the fire perimeter is due to the fact that the previous perimeter map included an area that was not visible for mapping due to the smoke so included in the estimated perimeter.
Aerial fires were conducted today in the Yellow Lake/Sheep Creek area and were supported by ground crews. The target area is approximately 200 hectares in size.
Crews were also reinforcing containment lines along Highway 3A.
As crews develop solid containment lines and as structures are no longer considered at risk, structural protection will slowly diminish.
Photo: BCWS
New perimeter map for the Keremeos Creek Wildfire as of August 3, 2022.
UPDATE: 2:45 p.m
The BC Wildfire Service is planning an approximately 200-hectare scheduled burn in the Yellow Lake and Sheep Creek area around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, taking advantage of light winds and slightly cooler temperatures to battle the out-of-control Keremeos wildfire Creek.
It will be very visible in the area and the freeway may be slow for a while while they deal with rolling debris near Yellow Lake. It may be closed or delayed periodically for short periods of time.
“Rolling debris can be anything from rocks, trees, anything that has come loose from a hillside due to hillside activity,” BCWS information officer Marg Drysdale said at a briefing Wednesday.
“If you have steep slopes, that happens a lot, and our crews actually deal with that a lot, just because for them it can be a safety issue if they’re under. And they’re taught to be very careful not to be in an area where there’s debris that could fall on them, but obviously they’ve put some debris on the road and they’re going to deal with it.”
Drysdale said they are lucky to have so much support on the ground.
“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 units of heavy equipment. There will be additional heavy equipment in the coming days.”
The size of the wildfire is still listed at 2,790 hectares, and Drysdale said that may not be updated until about 24 hours from now due to the smoky areas of the fire making mapping difficult.
Crews are expecting a period of four to five days of good firefighting conditions before intense heat is expected to return. Drysdale says they are profiting from this window.
“That’s one of the reasons we have so many resources on this fire now. They can do a really great 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 warnings.
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 away from their homes. We take it very seriously. We’re removing the warrants and alerts as soon as we can,” Drysdale explained.
BCWS and RDOS work closely with Chief Greg Gabriel with the Penticton Indian Band, among other band members, and Lower and Upper Similkameen band members.
“It’s the connection between the First Nations community and the emergency agencies that just helps when these kinds of issues arise,” Gabriel said.
“[It] helps make it easier in a way that you can attack these events in different ways.”
BCWS is unable to predict potential fire duration.
“But what I can say is that with the number of resources and the conditions we have right now, we’re making great progress and we expect to make great progress in 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 that is involved in keeping our community safe, especially those firefighters that are on the scene right now,” Gabriel said.
For more information on warnings and evacuation 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 warnings, check DriveBC.ca.
Photo: BCWS
Yellow Lake, 3 Aug
UPDATE: 2 p.m
The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen Emergency Operations Center is providing a wildfire update at 2 p.m.
Watch live above.
Photo: BCWS
Keremeos Creek wildfire from the air.
UPDATE: 11am
Added more evacuation alerts related to the Keremeos Creek wildfire.
A total of 41 properties, most in the Grand Oro Road area in electoral districts G and I, as well as two more properties along Highway 3A, have been added to the alert.
Total properties under evacuation orders: 324 Total properties under evacuation warnings: 479
RDOS Emergency Support Services has registered 157 residents. Fifty-five were accommodated in local hotel rooms and another 10 were accommodated in local homes.
ESS says group accommodation has been established but is not currently in use.
An evacuee reception center is available at Princess Margaret Secondary School at 120 Green Ave in Penticton. This drop-in center will be open today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For a complete list of affected properties and updates on evacuation warnings and orders, click here.
ORIGINAL: 9:40 am
The BC Wildfire Service continues to attack the Keremeos Creek wildfire, which as of Wednesday morning was still estimated at 2,790 hectares.
It’s still out of control. The fire is near Highway 3A at Yellow Lake, so while it was closed Tuesday, crews conducted small, planned fires.
A control line runs along the highway that will limit the growth and allow crews to have safe access and establish containment lines.
Over the next 24 hours, more planned ignitions are being prepared on the eastern flank of the fire.
More than 320 properties in the fire area, including Apex Mountain Resort, remain under evacuation orders and hundreds more are on standby. Find a complete list of orders and alerts here and evacuee information here.
The resources attacking this fire now are:
- 137 firefighters
- 10 helicopters
- Four heavy equipment
- 137 wildland firefighters have been assigned to this fire, working with an additional 115 structural protection personnel from British Columbia fire services for a total of 252 firefighters.
Structure protection will be established where and as 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 potential burn operations.
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