Some evacuation orders lifted near Keremeos, B.C., wildfire

Evacuation orders were lifted for about 50 properties near a wildfire in Keremeos, B.C., as crews expect to see subdued conditions over the coming days.

The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen announced the change to evacuation orders and alerts for select properties along Highway 3A Wednesday morning.

It pertains primarily to properties in the areas of Twin Lakes Road and White Lake Road.

For properties that were under evacuation order, an alert is instead in place. There are still 493 properties on evacuation order and more than 900 on evacuation alert. 

• See the full list of evacuation orders and alerts here

Mikhail Elsay with BC Wildfire Service said during a morning update the changes were recommended based on "current and anticipated fire behaviour."

"Crews have been able to diligently mop up and reduce the risk of wildfire in that section," he said.

Overnight, a drone-operated thermal scan was conducted to determine where hotspots need to be targeted along the highway corridor.

"Crews have done a very thorough job over the last few days, and so this thermal scan will allow us to really nail down the final spots," Elsay said.

"There's lots of rocky, deep-burning root systems … these drones are very sensitive, they can pick up even small amounts of heat, so we'll be able to really confirm the work that we're doing out there."

The fire, discovered on July 29 southwest of Penticton, measured at just over 6,800 hectares Wednesday morning.

If positive progress continues, and the weather co-operates, orders for more neighbourhoods could be lifted in the coming days.

As of Wednesday evening, evacuation orders remain in place for all of Olalla and communities around Apex Mountain Resort.

The BC Wildfire Service expects the fire to continue to burn – sometimes aggressively – for weeks, but is confident the guards it has put in place around communities will be able to protect them.

To get to this stage, firefighters have used controlled burns to clear out additional fuel that could feed the fire in otherwise unpredictable ways, and fire blocks created by using heavy machinery to bulldoze sections of brush, creating a gap crews hope the fire will not be able to cross.

“Operations are going really well. We continue to establish lines to the west and on the north components of this fire,” said Bryan Zandberg, a fire information officer. “We have crews out there trying to cool it down.”

Even as the outlook improves on the Keremeos Creek fire, there is trouble looming on the horizon elsewhere in the southern Interior of the province.

Thunderstorms threaten to bring lightning strikes, which could ignite more fires throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre.

BCWS says it has people monitoring the storm system and teams of firefighters ready for rapid deployment to try to get the upper hand on any new fires caused by the anticipated lightning.

“We will have a lot of initial attack crews that are poised and ready to go,” said Zandberg. “They’re put on standby, ready to go at a moment’s notice, hop in a helicopter or a pump truck as need be, and just get to the scene really quickly.”

After a slow start, there is the very real possibility the province’s fire season could ramp up, with weeks to go before British Columbians can breathe easy.