Evacuation orders issued due to wildfire near Osoyoos, B.C.

Hundreds have been ordered to evacuate due to an out-of-control wildfire burning near Osoyoos, B.C.

The Eagle Bluff wildfire, which was previously called the Lone Pine Creek wildfire, crossed the U.S.-Canada border Saturday.

On the Canadian side of the border, it has grown to 885 hectares as of Sunday morning. On the U.S. side, the fire has burned more than 4,000 hectares, according to Washington State wildfire officials.

The orders were issued by the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and the Town of Osoyoos, impacting 732 properties. They cover an area with boundaries west of Highway 97, south of Highway 3, east of Nighthawk Road, and north of the U.S. border.

Residents and visitors have been told to leave immediately because the fire "poses a threat to life and safety," according to the orders, which also say people forced to flee should go to an emergency operations centre in nearby Oliver.

In addition, 2,094 properties have been placed on evacuation alert.

"Residents will be given as much advance notice as possible prior to evacuation; however, you may receive limited notice due to changing conditions," the alert says.

Crews with the BC Wildfire Service were on scene overnight and additional resources were deployed in the morning, including a helicopter, heavy equipment and structure protection personnel.

Firefighters are working the east flank of the fire with 50 personnel on scene, BCWS information officer Shaelee Stearns said at a RDOS briefing Sunday. Eleven pieces of heavy equipment and five helicopters have been deployed.

Stearns said there was a decrease in fire behaviour Sunday, and the fire hasn’t grown significantly after Saturday evening. Changes in the wind, cooler temperatures and rising humidity were listed as possible factors in the blaze’s slower spread.

South of the Canada-U.S. border, however, the situation remains more active.

Jake Todd, spokesperson for the United States Forest Service, said the wildfire scorched 40 square kilometres by Sunday evening.

Three houses and one shed were lost to the fire, he said.

The fire danger remained “very high” and 250 personnel were battling the blaze, he said. Temperatures on Monday were forecast to be in the upper 30s and overnight lows around 10 degrees Celsius, with winds estimated to be out of both the north and the south with gusts up to 50 kilometres per hour.

“Local initial attack resources and regional air assets have been on scene since this fire was first reported and assessed yesterday,” Todd said. “Suppression efforts will be executed throughout the day, and activities will continue overnight as safety considerations for firefighters allow.”

She urged those who are under evacuation order to leave. “If people are choosing to stay, they are putting themselves at risk and not only that but also our crews who might have to go in if the conditions change,” Stearns said.

Erick Thompson, information officer with the Reginal District of Okanagan-Similkameen, reminded people in the area to not use drones and stay off the water to make room for aircraft.

“This is not a good time to settle into holiday mode,” he said. “Situational awareness is key. It’s inconvenient for some people but imagine people who are on evacuation order, their homes are threatened and the fire operations have to stop because someone wanted to be on a boat.”

Town of Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff urged residents and businesses to reduce water consumption and not water lawns to conserve resources for the firefighting effort.

The province's Ministry of Transportation has told people to avoid driving on the 47 kilometre stretch of Highway 3 between Keremeos and Osoyoos.

“It travelled so fast,” Osoyoos resident Karen Goodfellow told CTV News on Saturday evening.

“I walked from one of our outbuildings here and saw all the smoke and just watched it for two minutes and it was moving so quickly, the trees were candling right from the very beginning,” she continued.

“It’s disconcerting, that’s for sure.”

There have been 1,517 wildfires in British Columbia this year, burning 15,397 square kilometres of trees, bush and grassland.

With files from The Canadian Press