Two out-of-control wildfires in British Columbia’s southern Interior have forced officials to issue evacuation orders for people at almost 100 properties.
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District issued evacuation orders Sunday for residents and owners of 88 properties in a remote area north of Lytton, including recreational cabins at Turnip Lake, due to the continued growth of the Shetland Creek wildfire.
The regional district said in a statement Sunday the evacuation order was issued “due to immediate danger to life safety caused by the Shetland Creek Wildfire.”
According to Kevin Skrepnek, manager of Community and Emergency Services for the regional district, the Shetland Creek fire has been steadily growing toward Lytton and some of the areas around the B.C. village, which were destroyed by fire in the June 2021 wildfire.
Additionally, about 50 properties in the Botanie Valley area, north of the Village of Lytton is currently under an evacuation order, said Skrepnek.
The TNRD has expanded an Evacuation Order in the Shetland Creek Wildfire. The Order is now in effect for 88 addressed properties. <br><br>The revised Alert is now in effect for 215 addressed properties.<br><br>For more: <a href=”https://t.co/ikAbqTe1Hg”>https://t.co/ikAbqTe1Hg</a> <a href=”https://t.co/bdvYXntmKn”>pic.twitter.com/bdvYXntmKn</a>
—@TNRD
“We wanted folks there to have as much notice as possible in case we did need to move to an evacuation order based on what the fire is doing,” he told CBC News.
Weather forecasts don’t provide much relief either, Skrepnek says, with rising temperatures, increasing wind speeds and dry lightning forecasted for southern B.C. for the next few days.
“That’s going to be a concern both for the Shetland Creek Fire and for fires across the region, and of course potential for new fires to start with that lightning.”
The B.C. Wildfire Service said it is preparing for increased lightning activity across much of the province’s Cariboo, Okanagan and southeast regions followed by cooler temperatures and high winds on Monday.
Evacuation order issued for Princeton-area properties
The Okanagan-Similkameen Regional District issued an evacuation order late Saturday for 16 properties in a rural area south of Princeton, B.C., because of the out-of-control Calcite Creek wildfire.
The properties are located near Highway 3 along the Pasayten Forest Service Road, about 40 kilometres south of Princeton, while evacuation alerts were issued for people at nearby properties at Eastgate and Placer Creek.
With constantly changing conditions, the regional district’s information officer is urging residents to sign up for Voyent Alert, a free emergency notification system that delivers subscribers emergency notifications during critical events like fire.
Handout footage from the B.C. Wildfire Service shows smoke and flames from the huge Shetland Creek wildfire in B.C.’s southern Interior from the week of July 22, 2024.
“Then if anything changes, especially if it’s on short notice, they’ll be notified right away,” he told CBC News. “Of course the other thing you can do is monitor local website and and even local media as well.”
The province’s wildfire service reports eight fires of note in B.C.’s southern regions, including the Dogtooth wildfire south of Golden, which has destroyed 15 structures; the Dunn Creek wildfire located about 100 kilometres north of Kamloops; and the Sitkum Creek wildfire northeast of Vernon.
A wildfire of note is described as highly visible with the potential to pose a threat to public safety.
A wildfire four kilometres south of the Canada-U.S. border at Oroville, Wash., started Saturday and is currently visible from nearby Osoyoos, B.C.
Officials said there are 333 active fires across B.C., but preparations are underway for more lightning-triggered blazes over the coming days.