B.C. wildfires: Out of control fire doubles in size in just over 12 hours
A new wildfire burning near Penticton, B.C., has grown to 212 hectares.
The Skaha Lake fire was discovered on Saturday and is believed to be human caused.
“The major challenge that we are facing in regards to the Skaha Creek wildfire is the fuel,” said Erika Berg, fire information officer with B.C. Wildfire Service. “Those fuels have been extremely dry, since spring, and so what little bit of precipitation that that area may have received over the course of the spring and summer, hasn’t been enough to really dampen those fuels.”
Multiple air tankers and skimmers are working to contain it.
“At the time of ignition it was six kilometres southwest of Penticton,” said Berg. “(It’s) currently not threatening any structures.”
Videos on social media show massive orange and red flames shooting in the sky.
“It was a bit on the scary side last night especially around midnight where the flames were very, very visible,” said John Vassilaki, Penticton Mayor. “That put concerns into place for folks living around that area.”
“Recreational boaters on Skaha and Okanagan Lakes are also asked to stay close to shore to allow aircraft responding to the nearby wildfire to collect lake water,” said a news release issued by the city Sunday.
The Penticton Indian Band and Westhills Aggregates are also supporting the BC Wildfire Service and are working to improve road conditions to allow crews and equipment better access to the fire site.
“The Band would like to remind the public to avoid areas and roadways close to the fire as it puts responders and the community at risk,” the city's statement said.
On Monday morning the Penticton Indian Band tweeted it was activating its Emergency Operations Centre. In the statement it added, “there are winds expected this afternoon coming from the north sustained at 20 kilometres per hour, gusting to 40 kilometres per hour. Ground crews and aerial support continue suppression efforts and building containment guards.”
Vassilaki said the City of Penticton has offered its assistance should the Penticton Indian Band need it.
“We found in the city of Penticton about 140 hotel rooms if they’re ever necessary,” said Vassilaki. “There’s no danger of that fire to ever catch up to any structures on Penticton Indian Band lands, so I mean everything’s pretty safe over there.”
Vassilaki said he does not anticipate there being any closures to highway 97 because of this fire. As of Monday morning, he said there was just some smoke in the sky.
Meanwhile, a large-scale controlled burn will be conducted on the massive White Rock Lake wildfire burning between Kamloops and Vernon.
Another 60 members of the Canadian Armed Forces arrived on Sunday, in addition to 60 members that were already working on the out-of-control blaze.
Additional firefighters from Mexico also arrived over the weekend to battle the Mount Law wildfire just outside of West Kelowna.
There were 233 active wildfires burning across the province as of Monday morning.
“It has been a really intense season for us,” said Berg. “These fires are still burning, we’re not out of the woods, things are slowing but it is still summer, fall is not quite here, so we’ll still be working away.”
According to the B.C. Wildfire Service there are almost 600 out of province personnel currently here working on the wildfires. Berg said with the change in the weather system it has given the team a break and when deployments are up, crews will be able to head home.
“Over the past week it’s been quite a bit cooler than those really extreme temperatures we’ve seen,” she said. “There is the potential for some precipitation to reach the Kamloops fire centre where we see the Skaha Creek wildfire is located, but not enough that will really change things for those larger fires.”
Berg told CTV News Vancouver 10 per cent of wildfires this season have been human caused, 70 per cent are believed to be naturally caused and the remaining 20 per cent are undetermined.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Maximum payout for LifeLabs class-action drops from $150 estimate to $7.86
Canadian LifeLabs customers who filed an application for a class-action settlement began receiving their payments this week, though at a much lower amount than initially expected.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.