Residents of B.C.'s Shuswap experiencing 'unparalleled crisis,' regional district says

Thousands of people were ordered to evacuate their homes along Shuswap Lake Friday in what the regional district called its "most devastating wildfire day in history."

"Today marks an unprecedented and profoundly challenging day for the Shuswap region," said the Columbia Shuswap Regional District in a statement Friday evening, calling the situation "an unparalleled crisis."

A total of 11 evacuation orders are in effect as a result of the Adams Lake wildfire complex in the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, affecting some 4,600 properties.

Another 864 properties in and around the community of Sorrento are on evacuation alert, and Highway 1 was closed between Chase and Sorrento Friday night because of the blaze. It remained closed as of mid-morning Saturday.

The Scotch Creek and Talana Bay bridges were closed, and evacuees in the area were told to evacuate by boat.

At a provincial news conference Saturday afternoon, BC Wildfire Service director of operations Cliff Chapman cited the Adams Lake complex as an example of what he called "some of the worst conditions that this province has ever faced as it pertains to wildfires on the land base."

"This fire made a run yesterday in under 12 hours of over 20 kilometers," Chapman said. "That is a significant fire run for this province. And it was extremely challenging conditions to try to get people out, and I'm thankful that we were able to do that."

While Chapman did not comment on structure damage resulting from the fire, a statement on the wildfire service website suggests substantial losses are likely.

"There have been impacts to communities," the statement reads. "The BC Wildfire Service is working as hard as possible to facilitate safe access to impacted areas for local authorities to do rapid damage assessments. Information about structure impact will be shared through local authorities as it is confirmed and made available."

SENIORS’ CARE FACILITY EVACUATED

On Saturday afternoon, Interior Health said it had evacuated Parkside Community, a seniors’ care facility in Chase.

The health authority said 53 individuals in assisted living care were moved to alternate facilities in Kamloops and the surrounding area Friday evening.

The health authority has created a phone line for families looking to receive updates on the locations of their loved-ones.

Family members are invited to call 833-469-9800 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday to Friday, or between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekends. Callers outside those hours are encouraged to leave a message to receive a call back.

FESTIVAL CANCELLED

Although there are currently no evacuation orders in Salmon Arm, the remainder of the city’s annual Roots and Blues Festival was cancelled Saturday morning.

“We have been in direct communication with our local fire officials and RCMP and with their support we have decided to cancel the remainder of our festival weekend,” organizers wrote on social media.

“Cancelling the 31st annual Roots and Blues was a difficult decision to make and one we did not take lightly.”

BOIL WATER NOTICE

On Saturday morning, the CSRD and Interior Health issued a boil water notice for users of the Sorrento and Mac Reedman water system "due to uncertainty that adequate treatment is being met."

Water system users are advised to boil their water at a rapid boil for at least one minute, add two drops of fresh household bleach per litre of water, or use bottled water.

The Lower East Adams Lake fire has been burning since July 12, but gusting winds on Thursday and Friday greatly increased the danger it posed.

As of late Friday night, the blaze had grown to just over 10,000 hectares, or 100 square kilometres, according to the BC Wildfire Service.

There are 37 wildland firefighters assigned to the blaze, along with 15 helicopters shared across the "Adams Complex" of fires, which includes the Rossmoore Lake and Bush Creek East wildfires, in addition to Lower East Adams Lake.

The Lower East Adams Lake fire also has 37 pieces of heavy equipment and 80 structure protection resources responding to it, according to the wildfire service.

With files from The Canadian Press