Fire evacuees could return home within days
Residents evacuated by the White Rock Lake wildfire could be allowed to return home in the next five to ten days, barring any unforeseen weather events.
That’s the estimate from the BC Wildfire Service after 600-hectares of potential fire fuel were consumed on the fire’s southeast flank by aerial ignitions on Wednesday.
“The Drought Code in this area of the fire is resulting in incredibly deep burning forest fuels making it difficult to bring this area to full extinguishment,” said Hanna Swift, BC Wildfire Information Officer. “Yesterday, planned ignitions along the southeast flank were used to secure the fire perimeter burning north of Terrace Mountain, west towards the fire perimeter above Shorts Creek.”
A 20-person unit crew remained on-site through the night to set up a hose-lay along this control line to begin mop-up. An infrared scan will be completed Thursday which will help crews identify hot spots.
BCWS says the ignition operation was an important piece to securing safety for residents in this area.
“Once mop-up is complete, the B.C. Wildfire Service will reassess the safety of the area and recommend changes to evacuation orders and alerts accordingly. B.C. Wildfire remains hopeful, barring any unforeseen weather events, residents could be returning to their homes in five to ten days,” said a news release from the Regional District of Central Okanagan.
Listen to BCWS information officer Hannah Swift on the 5 to 10 day timeline for allowing some evacuated residents along Westside Road to return home:
The timeline for evacuated Okanagan Indian Band residents returning home could be longer.
Information officer Hannah Swift said that will depend on when a controlled ignition of 3,000 hectares of inaccessible terrain above Six Mile Creek area can be conducted.
“We were hoping to do it on Wednesday and that would have made us a lot more confident and comfortable in that area because there is still a lot of fire burning in steep terrain which we can’t actually access. It’s still a concern that that northeast flank could still make a run,” Swift told Vernon Matters.
BCWS is hoping to conduct the controlled burn when conditions are favourable, perhaps on Saturday or Sunday.
“We are hoping for winds predominantly from the north, and we’re getting southbound again today so those won’t be going forward,” Swift explained.
B.C. Hydro crews are said to be making good progress along Westside Road to remove danger trees and restore power lines where required. During the wind event on August 15, there was a substantial amount of damage to power lines.
The Evacuation Order for 1,316 properties and Alert for 850 properties, in the North Westside communities within the Regional District of the Central Okanagan, remains unchanged. Residents can visit cordemergency.ca/map to determine if their property is on Order or Alert.
The wildfire has directly impacted 78 properties to date and the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre has contacted most Central Okanagan owners whose properties have sustained significant structural damage.
North Westside Fire Chief Alex Van Bruksvoort said the planned ignition by BC Wildfire above Valley of the Sun was deemed a success.
“North Westside Fire Rescue will continue their patrols, extinguishing any spot fires found,” said Van Bruksvoort. “We are supporting BC Hydro and all other agencies as they rebuild the infrastructure to bring as many of you home as soon as possible. Please be patient as we make your community much safer moving forward, safety within the fire area needs to be paramount, as all areas are being safeguarded.”
The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre will host an online virtual information session this evening for residents and owners of properties located within the Regional District of Central Okanagan who is on evacuation order from the White Rock Lake wildfire.
The information session is intended to address questions from residents on evacuation orders, but other members of the public are also invited to attend tonight:
Thursday, Aug. 26
6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.
Livestream via the RDCO’s YouTube channel
View at www.youtube.com/regionaldistrict
Residents can submit questions for the panel in advance before noon today by going online.
To watch the live-streamed community information session go to the RDCO YouTube channel at youtube.com/regionaldistrict.