B.C. wildfire crews are assessing damage in the Village of Clinton on Wednesday as hot and windy conditions could fuel new wildfire activity.
The Pear Lake wildfire, estimated at 66,000 hectares, received some reprieve from the cooler, wetter weather. However, the weather is warming up again.
“The Pear Lake wildfire, of course, has resulted in expanding evacuation orders and alerts in that Cariboo Fire Center area, Clinton, 70 Mile House regions,” Jean Strong with the BC Wildfire Service said.
She said they are expecting further growth on that fire and likely others in the province.
It is not known how many structures or homes have been lost in the Clinton area and Strong said local government officials will go in and assess the damage and then communicate directly with residents.
Tow truck owner Steven Larabie told Global News that he lost his house, his daughter’s house and his business, along with some of his neighbours’ homes, to the wildfire last week.
“Every fire is going to have a slightly different response and the conditions of that wildfire will dictate what’s safe and operationally effective for us to do,” Strong said.
Get breaking National news
“That also means that we’re bringing in other resources from out of province. So across the province this week, we’re seeing additional resources arrived to support both in the Cariboo Fire Center and elsewhere in the province.”
Firefighters from the Yukon and Alberta arrived in the province and additional personnel from Mexico are arriving on Aug. 3 and Aug. 6.
“It gives us additional people on the ground, especially with the amount of people that we’re seeing coming in,” Strong added.
“That’s over 200 from Mexico alone, plus around 100 from other agencies in Canada. And then we have more that we are working to secure, so that’s wonderful.”
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.