Several structures have been destroyed by a wildfire in B.C.’s Southern Interior.
That’s according to the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, which confirmed the losses regarding the Shetland Creek blaze that’s burning near the Trans-Canada Highway communities of Spences Bridge, Ashcroft and Cache Creek.
More than 80 families were forced to leave their homes when the rapidly burning fire tore through the Venables Valley area on Wednesday night. The valley is located between Ashcroft and Spences Bridge.
On Thursday night, the fire exploded in size, growing from 5,000 hectares to 13,000 hectares. As of Saturday afternoon, it was estimated at 14,784 hectares.
“That fire increase was due to sustained winds being quite aggressive, driving the fire to the north,” BC Wildfire Service information officer Morgan Blois told Global News.
Get daily Okanagan news
“It’s providing a lane for the fire to move in; when that wind gets in there, it’s pushing it quite rapidly.”
Three evacuation orders have been issued, including one for eight properties within the Village of Ashcroft. Also, there are six evacuation alerts that include 222 properties from Spences Bridge to Cache Creek.
DriveBC also issued a notice that said the Trans-Canada Highway may be closed because of wildfire concerns.
Also Friday, Interior Health relocated several residents from long-term care homes in the area.
Environment Canada is forecasting extremely hot temperatures this weekend for the Cache Creek area, with Saturday seeing a high of 39 C and Sunday rising to 41 C.
The national weather agency also has a massive and ongoing heat warning that covers a large swath of B.C.’s Interior.
Understandably, BC Wildfire expects the Shetland Creek fire to grow.
“Relative humidities are quite low as to what we’d like to be seeing in order to get that good recovery overnight,” said Blois.
“That, combined with the hot temperatures that we’re experiencing, the fire behaviour during the evening is extending into the early morning hours. So that’s driving the fire’s growth a little longer than we would typically like to see.”