Ministry reports ‘really good’ progress on White Rock Lake wildfire

The B.C. government is reporting good progress in efforts to contain the massive White Rock Lake fire, west of Vernon.

Deputy minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development,  Rick Manwaring, says the focus now is on adding guards to prevent growth on the fire’s four main areas, including the southeast part near Westside Road.

“The boundaries of the fire are pressing to the north, the west, the northeast and to the southeast to some degree,” Manwaring told a provincial news conference on Tuesday. “So all of our active work with our partners, putting in guards, focuses on those areas, trying to contain the fire is where we’re applying our aircraft resources. Thanks to cooler weather and stable air, we’ve been able to make some really good progress the last couple days to begin to contain the fire.”

Manwaring says their priority is to protect life and property.

“We focus almost entirely, with this scale of fire, on where the interface or community risk is with these fires,” the deputy minister remarked

The BC Wildfire Service has reported several days of no significant growth on the fire, with the size estimate at 55,649 hectares as of Tuesday afternoon.