Beautiful blue skies, and some wildfire smoke, are floating above the South Okanagan on Saturday.
For some residents in Penticton, fears of being forced from their homes because of the Christie Mountain wildfire have eased, but not by much.
On Friday, evacuation tension was high, as the forecast called for afternoon winds. The fear was that the 2,000-hectare fire could grow and turn an evacuation alert for nearly 3,800 properties into an evacuation order.
The BC Wildfire Service said while wind gusts from the south did buffet the blaze, fire activity did not significantly increase.
On Saturday afternoon, BC Wildfire estimated the fire’s size to be at 2,035 hectares.
Further, BC Wildfire said approximately one millimeter of rain fell on the fire Friday.
“We were very fortunate yesterday with the wind event,” said Penticton fire chief Larry Watkinson. “Although it was quite vigorous, above Penticton and on the hillsides, it was very soft on the fire. We didn’t see a lot of expansion.”
Watkinson said a lot of work was done to keep areas wet, and that crews didn’t see any ignitions from ember transplants or ash-fly, or “any real damage to structures at all.”
“While the sky is blue here today in Penticton, the risk remains,” said Penticton mayor John Vassilaki.
For Saturday, north winds pushing south are forecast — a reversal from Friday.
But in what could be good news, Penticton’s fire chief says they were able to send the majority of the out-of-town units back to their communities, and are feeling confident the fire will stay out of the city.
On Saturday, there were 200 firefighters on scene, along with 16 helicopters.
“They will continue to build upon their progress on the southwest flank of the fire, strengthening control lines for values protection with support from 16 helicopters and six water tenders,” said the BC Wildfire Service.
“Crews will continue to reinforce control lines at Skaha Bluff Provincial Park and look for small burnout opportunities. They made great progress on the southwest flank of the fire building and strengthening control lines for values protection.”
It said 40 firefighters worked on-site overnight, with support from multiple fire departments and structure protection personnel.
“An increased amount of structural protection teams will remain stationed throughout the community to perform assessments and proactively triage infrastructure,” said the agency.
“This action is a precautionary measure to mitigate risk to homes in the area ahead of an approaching weather system that may cause challenging fire behaviour.”
During Saturday’s press conference, BC Wildfire operations section chief Dan Taudin-Chabot said they are looking at fire projections daily as to when they can downgrade the evacuation order to an alert, adding the alert hasn’t been lifted because they don’t feel “100 per cent comfortable yet. And when we do, we will.”
He also said “we don’t want to be premature on this. It’s really important that we nail it. I know it’s tough on citizens, and we feel that and we feel that pressure, but we also don’t want to make an incorrect decision.”
Taudin-Chabot said two factors helped prevent the fire’s spread:
- The combined work of ground and air crews slowed the growth.
- The fire is running into a former 1994 fire, so not as much forest fuel is available, which is helping taking “the steam” out of it.
As for Saturday’s winds, Taudin-Chabot said “where the winds are pushing back into now, although they are lighter, it is a heavier fuel load. So that’s one of the things we are concerned about.”
He said BC Wildfire will be utilizing its aviation fleet to stop any growth, “but that’s definitely something we’re keeping an eye on.”
Environment Canada is projecting mainly sunny skies for the next week, with highs ranging between 25 C and 30 C, along with overnight lows of 9-13 C.
The two exceptions are Monday and Friday, where the forecast is calling for a mix of sun and cloud.