A wildfire growing in British Columbia’s Okanagan region, about 21 kilometers southwest of Penticton, has forced the evacuation of hundreds of properties in the area.
Posted yesterday at 11:02 p.m.
BC Forest Fire Service communications officer Bryan Zandberg said the Keremeos Creek fire has now burned more than 22 square kilometers of land and described it as “vigorous”.
“There could be gusts of wind. There was even a possibility of a thunderstorm today according to the weather report we received. Obviously that’s concerning,’ he said in providing an update on the fire on Monday.
“It is quite warm, but a few degrees cooler than the past few days. »
Environment Canada said while a heat warning is in effect for the Okanagan, the mercury is expected to drop Tuesday and more seasonal temperatures are expected to return Wednesday.
The wildfire has forced the evacuation of more than 300 properties in the resort community of interior British Columbia. More than 400 properties are on evacuation alert in the area.
An unoccupied “little cabin” was destroyed in the fire and no injuries were reported, said Erick Thompson, information officer for the Okanagan-Similkameen Regional District Emergency Operations Center.
Mr Zandberg said the dry grasses and shrubs and low humidity encouraged the “disorganized growth” of the fire. A weather phenomenon called an ‘inversion’, in which a band of air pushes smoke over the fire, seemingly starving it of oxygen, also played a positive role, he added.
But this meteorological phenomenon collapses when temperatures reach 27 or 28 ° C and the fire starts to roar again, he specified.
Much of the fire is in steep, inaccessible terrain and crews are focusing their efforts on areas affecting residents, he said. In addition, cooler temperatures forecast for Monday and over the next few days will help firefighters.
“We are in a desert here,” Mr. Zandberg said. “There are therefore very dry fuels to feed the fire. We have localized weather conditions such as winds that will push the flames, but in a disorganized way. »
The fire “extends outwards”, but does not follow a definite trajectory. It not only ignites ground vegetation, but also treetops, he added.
The Forest Fire Department said another blaze, located about 1.7 miles northwest of Lytton on the west side of the Fraser River, has not made much progress. Its area is about 32 square kilometers.
Rocky slopes and a scarcity of fuels have slowed the growth of fires in some areas, authorities said. Although temperatures are expected to drop on Monday, the behavior of the fires will mainly depend on the winds, he added.
The fire is suspected to be of human origin. This fire is burning across the Fraser River from Lytton, which was left in ruins after another wildfire swept through the village last year.