B.C. (CP) – British Columbia’s wildfire service is working to create containment lines around an “aggressive” blaze that has already destroyed at least six homes.
Jeff Walsh, an incident commander with the BC Wildfire Service, says crews were using heavy equipment on the mountain slopes above Spences Bridge to prevent fire from burning downslope toward the southern Interior community.
The homes lost were in the Venables Valley, near Spences Bridge, and Colton Davies with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District says they were among 20 buildings destroyed by the nearly 200-square-kilometre Shetland Creek fire.
Several communities are in the path of wildfires in B.C. as crews fight the most threatening of 430 active blazes, 80 per cent of which have been started by some of the thousands of lightning strikes that have swept over B.C. in the last few days.
Walsh says in a video update that hot and dry conditions coupled with gusty winds have fuelled erratic and aggressive fire behaviour at the Shetland Creek blaze, driving its spread to the north.
The wildfire service says local planes and helicopters, as well as aircraft from the Yukon, Ontario, Quebec and Alaska have joined the fire fight, with almost 100 airtanker missions from July 18 to 21 dropping 5.4 million litres of suppressant.
People using bodies of water near out-of-control fires, such as Shawnigan Lake adjacent to the Old Man Lake wildfire on Vancouver Island, have been told to “keep well away” from aircraft either skimming water or operating in the area.
The B.C. Ministry of Emergency Management’s latest update says about 470 properties have been ordered evacuated, while another 3,100 properties are on evacuation alert.
Meanwhile, thousands of wildfire evacuees forced from Jasper National Park into British Columbia along smoke-choked mountain roads Monday were directed Tuesday to make a wide U-turn and head home if they needed a place to stay.
Alberta fire officials said B.C. has its hands full with its own wildfires and evacuations.
“The issue is the severity of wildfire activity and evacuations in B.C. proper,” Stephen Lacroix, managing director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, told reporters during a video conference.
“They had no capacity to house Albertans.”
Alberta Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said reception centres were being set up in Grande Prairie to the north and Calgary to the south.
Ellis told evacuees to take massive detours, either through Prince George, B.C., proceeding north and east to Grande Prairie, or south to Kamloops before going east to Calgary.
Everyone in Jasper National Park — tourists, hikers, campers, boaters — along with 4,700 residents of the Jasper townsite were ordered out late Monday night as wildfires pinched off escape routes to the east and south.
The result was a long, slow-moving line of cars and trucks heading west through the mountains to B.C. in darkness, swirling smoke, soot and ash.
Many evacuees sought refuge for the night in Valemount, B.C., a town of 1,000 about 120 kilometres west of Jasper.
No critical infrastructure had been damaged so far in Jasper National Park, she added.
The province has been baking and sweltering for days in 30 C-plus temperatures.
About 180 wildfires were burning across Alberta as of late Tuesday, 63 of which were out of control.
These are the facts about British Columbia’s wildfire situation, according to the BC Wildfire Service:
Active fires: 430
Wildfires of note: Four. Shetland Creek fire, Kamloops Fire Centre; Antler Creek fire, Cariboo Fire Centre; Aylwin Creek fire, Southeast Fire Centre; Komonko Creek fire, Southeast Fire Centre.
Fires started in last 24 hours: 107
Out-of-control fires: 258
Active fire causes: Lightning 80 per cent, human 6 per cent, undetermined 14 per cent (percentages are rounded)
Firefighting staff deployed: 1,041
Aircraft deployed: 183
Area burned since April 1: 8,099 square kilometres
