The arrival of cooler weather and more support is expected to help crews get better control over the Keremeos Creek wildfire, which is burning about 20 kilometres outside of Penticton.
Bryan Zandberg, an information officer with BC Wildfire, said on Tuesday the fire that started last Friday is currently mapped at 2,790 hectares — which is a significant jump from what was reported on Sunday, largely due to better visibility for mapping.
More than 300 homes were put on an evacuation order on Monday, as winds pushed the fire closer to interface areas. But Zandberg said that the fire did not grow significantly overnight, and the attack is expected to shift Tuesday.
“Weather is slightly cooler today and the relative humidity is higher,” Zandberg said. “That will be helpful and we want to make the best of it. We are taking a more aggressive stance on the fire today.”
The forecast calls for cool weather over the next few days but Zandberg said that there are concerns that the wind may pose a challenge.
However, air support has been engaged and the number of firefighters has also grown. There are 114 wildland firefighters assigned to this fire working with an additional 115 structural protection personnel from fire departments across B.C. for a total complement of 229 firefighters.
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The fire, Zandbeg said, is growing in all directions, but there has been good work done on keeping the interface areas cool.
“Structural protection has deployed resources on homes and infrastructure as needed and triaging additional sites should continued work be required,” BC Wildfire said.
“Crews are actively building contingency lines on the south side of the ravine on Sheep Creek Road. Crews are building hand lines at the south of Green Mountain Road over to Highway 3. And crews are also working along Green Mountain Road.”
There is a chance that there will be road closures on Tuesday.
Working with the Ministry of Transportation, there has been a recommendation that Highway 3A from Twin Lakes to Olalla be temporarily closed to accommodate fire operations. For information about road closures, visit DriveBC.