The latest:
- More than 200 fires are burning in B.C. with officials warning of a “challenging 72 hours” ahead.
- An evacuation order is in place for the Venables Valley, an agricultural region west of Kamloops, affecting more than 100 people.
- An emergency operations centre has been activated in the Shuswap in response to multiple new wildfire starts in the region.
- Find more information about evacuation orders and wildfires in your region.
B.C. fire officials are gearing up for what they warn could be a “very challenging 72 hours,” with lightning in the forecast and damage already in the B.C. Interior that one witness described as “Armageddon.”
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) issued an evacuation order Wednesday evening, impacting about 76 properties in the Venables Valley, an agricultural area about 70 kilometres west of Kamloops.
The TNRD says about 120 people are affected, with more living on neighbouring Cooks Ferry Indian Band land. CBC News has reached out to the band for information about how many of its residents are affected.
Elsewhere, the Shuswap Emergency Program says it has activated an emergency operations centre in response to multiple new fire starts in the region, though it says no properties are currently at risk.
Overall, more than 200 wildfires are active across the province as of late Thursday morning, more than 60 of which started in the last 24 hours. Nearly half are considered out of control.
Cliff Chapman, director of wildfire operations with the B.C Wildfire Service, says the province is in for a ‘very challenging’ 72 hours as the northern half of the province is expected to get “significant lightning” Thursday, followed by lightning across the province Friday.
Lightning is the primary source of new fires, according to Cliff Chapman, director of wildfire operations with the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS).
He said the northern half of B.C. is expected to get “significant lightning” Thursday, potentially followed by lightning across the province Friday.
“I do believe that we are on the precipice of a very challenging 72 hours,” Chapman said.
Flames ‘hundreds of feet tall’
On July 17, the Teit Creek wildfire merged into the Shetland Creek wildfire, both of which had prompted previous evacuation orders, the B.C. Wildfire Service said Thursday in an update.
The incident is now being referred to as the Shetland Creek wildfire which, as of Thursday morning, was burning at 50 square kilometres with an origin point 7.5 kilometres north of Spences Bridge.
The service said the fire has been growing “aggressively” and advancing to the northeast, and it is now classified as a wildfire of note.
“The flames were hundreds of feet tall,” said Venables Valley resident Mark Greenberg, who is part of a community-based fire team.
Mark Greenberg was one of more than 100 residents of Venables Valley, in the B.C. Interior, who had to watch as a wildfire burned toward his property.
Greenberg says a FireSmart meeting was underway at the community hall Wednesday night when he saw huge flames coming over the mountain toward the hall.
“I probably left the valley just around midnight, but within an hour the [valley] was just Armageddon,” he said.
The properties in the area are primarily agricultural and farmland, with about 120 residents the regional district said.
Also affected is Saranagati Village, a Hare Krishna community of about 30 families that also includes a school and temple.
The Cook’s Ferry Indian Band, north of Spences Bridge, also issued an updated evacuation order Wednesday for several reserves due to the fires according to officials.
Chapman said increasing winds accelerated fire growth amid unseasonably warm temperatures.
He also said an incident management team of about 55 people are heading to the area near Venables Valley to assist with fire suppression efforts and structure protection.
“We’re going to see temperatures in the mid-30s, even cresting into 40 C in the southern Interior over the next few days,” he said.
The fires were discovered last Friday and Saturday, and the service says lightning is the suspected cause of both blazes.
“This wildfire has proven to be extremely volatile and everyone in the area should leave immediately if they have not already,” Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma said at a news conference Thursday.
The band first issued an order Tuesday, which applied to Reserve 6 due to imminent danger from the fires.
A new order, which came into effect at 8 p.m. PT Wednesday, covers Reserves 5, 6, 8A, 19 Firstly and 22.
Cook’s Ferry Chief Christine Walkem said on social media that several families have been impacted by the fire, though the extent of the damage was unclear.
“Our thoughts and prayers for the loss of our Murray Creek, Twaal Valley, Venables Valley and the loss to come,” she wrote.