2021 year in review: Summer of heat, wildfires, evacuation alerts, orders in B.C. Interior

It was a summer of raging and seemingly never-ending wildfires in the Okanagan.

For two months, thousands of residents in the Okanagan Valley were on edge, wondering if they’d be evacuated from either an ongoing and growing wildfire or a new one that could possibly roar to life in tinder-dry conditions.

According to the B.C. Wildfire Service, between April 1 and Sept. 30, there were 452 wildfires within the Kamloops Fire Centre, which includes the Okanagan. Overall, 497,492 hectares were burned.

Both those figures were tops among the province’s six fire centres.

The Southeast Fire Centre was second in the number of fires at 359 — or nearly 100 below the Kamloops Fire Centre.

The Cariboo Fire Centre had the second-highest amount of hectares burned at 129,588 or roughly one-quarter of what was burned in the Kamloops Fire Centre.

Among the casualties: the village of Lytton, which was razed following record-shattering temperatures that soared into the high 40s.

Overall, there were 1,610 fires in B.C. this year, with 868,203 hectares burned.

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There were also 67 wildfires of note, and, in some cases, some fires were grouped into a larger ‘complex’ by B.C. Wildfire.

For 2021, there were seven complexes throughout the province, with five of them occurring in the Kamloops Fire Centre.

In the Okanagan, the Brenda Creek (871 ha), Nk’Mip Creek (19,335 ha) and Thomas Creek (10,597 ha) wildfires combined to create the Okanagan Complex.

In the Shuswap, the Bunting Road (4,733 ha), Crazy Creek Gorge (4,359 ha), Hunakwa Lake (3,355 ha), Momich Lake (16,534 ha), Three Valley Lake (498 ha) and Two Mile Road (2,499 ha) wildfires were combined into the Shuswap Complex.

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All of the above-named fires, though, at a combined 62,781 hectares didn’t add up to the massive White Rock Lake wildfire, which burned 83,342 hecatres.

It wasn’t the largest wildfire for the year, though, with the Sparks Lake fire north of Kamloops burning 95,980 ha., and the Lytton Creek wildfire torching 83,6711 ha.

However, the White Rock Lake wildfire spawned many lengthy evacuation alerts, including thousands of residents in Vernon.

Many evacuation orders were also issued as the fire ran unabated from its origin south of Westwold, stretching west to Monte Lake, where it destroyed 28 businesses and one business, and, at the same time, east to the northwestern shores of Okanagan Lake, where 78 properties were destroyed.

According to the Regional District of the Central Okanagan (RDCO), three massive wildfires engulfed portions of the district.

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“The 976-hectare Mt. Law wildfire saw about 500 West Kelowna properties on evacuation order or alert,” said the RDCO.

“And the Brenda Creek wildfire charred over 820 hectares in three regional districts, threatening the single Hydro distribution line powering an estimated 60,000 people on the west side of Okanagan Lake.”

The RDCO said at the height of the White Rock Lake wildfire, approximately 3,000 people from more than 1,300 properties were on evacuation order.

The wildfire destroyed homes and buildings on 75 properties within the regional district.

According to one estimate, the White Rock Lake wildfire caused an estimated $77 million in insurance damage.

The wildfire that razed Lytton caused at least $78 million in damage.

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At the height of the White Rock Lake wildfire, a B.C. Wildfire firefighters camp in Vernon housed more than 500 people directly engaged in battling the blaze.

“The White Rock Lake wildfire was devastating for many people and communities,” said Vernon Mayor Victor Cumming.

“Resources across the Interior were stretched as emergency responders, the province, local governments, First Nations, businesses, and volunteers banded together to support evacuees from neighbouring communities, and take steps to protect people, homes and infrastructure as best as possible.

“The threat of the White Rock Lake wildfire on Vernon’s boundary was very real, and our emergency responders and city staff were on high alert for the entire duration of the active fire event.”

Cumming said when most of Vernon was placed on evacuation alert in early August, several agencies were fully prepared with evacuation plans.

“Those moments were very tense for all of us in the community,” said Cumming, “but residents can rest assured that we were ready.”

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Cumming also noted that the Emergency Support Services (ESS) reception centre worked for 40 continuous days, with nearly 170 volunteers clocking more than 6,000 hours of service and registering more than 3,000 individual evacuees from numerous jurisdictions.

“Nearly 10,000 local hotel/motel rooms were allocated to evacuees and nearly 8,800 other service vouchers were issued for groceries, clothing, incidentals, gas and billeting,” said Cumming.

“As the mayor of Vernon, I am so proud of the work and dedication that was provided by our citizens and staff when our neighbours needed help. This was community in action.”

In the South Okanagan, the Nk’Mip Creek wildfire, which grew to 19,335 hectares, spawned evacuation alerts and orders that affected the communities of Oliver and Osoyoos plus local electoral areas.

The Thomas Creek wildfire was also a large incident, growing to 10,597 hectares near Okanagan Falls. At one point, more than 700 properties were under evacuation alert because of the wildfire.

And the Garrison Lake wildfire near Princeton was listed at 14,735 hectares.

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In November, research done by Natural Resources Canada said rising temperatures and falling humidity are the biggest drivers of extreme wildfire events.

“Our predictions of the future are showing those same trends,” said lead author Piyush Jain. “We can expect fire weather to get more extreme. Future fires are going to burn longer and more intensely.”