Highly visible wildfire breaks out near Invermere and Radium Hot Springs, B.C.

A new, highly visible wildfire broke out just west of Invermere and Radium Hot Springs in southeastern B.C. on Monday.

The Horsethief Creek fire is burning on the slope of Mt. Bruce, about seven kilometres north of the Panorama Mountain Resort and 10 kilometres west of Invermere.

It was discovered just after 2 p.m. Monday and has grown to 70 hectares in size. The BC Wildfire Service believes it was started by lightning.

“Aggressive fire behaviour is being driven by a cold front causing southwest winds that are gusting in the 45 kilometre an hour range,” the wildfire service said.

A BC Wildfire Service response officer is being deployed to the site to plan a suppression strategy and tactics.

Late Monday, the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) issued an evacuation order for 25 properties in the Horsethief Creek and Bear Mountain area due to the Horsethief Creek fire in the Columbia Valley.

The district also issuing an evacuation order and an alert for a series of properties on nearby forest service roads and recreation sites.

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The Village of Radium Hot Springs said it was aware of the fire, and while there were no evacuation alerts in place, urged residents to ensure they have an emergency plan, fuel in their vehicles and a grab-and-go bag.

It also implemented Stage 2 water restrictions as a precaution as the community’s water works are on the same side of the Columbia River as the fire.

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Meanwhile, BC Wildfire Service crews continue to battle two other serious fires in the province’s southeast.

As of Monday, 677 properties remained under evacuation alert and 51 others remained under evacuation order from the St. Mary’s River fire near Cranbrook.

That fire as destroyed at least seven homes on ʔaq’am (the St. Mary’s Indian Band) reserve land.

RDEK emergency operations centre information officer Loree Duczek said 16 families were given the green light to return to their homes in the community on Sunday night.

“But of course that comes with a bit of a heavy heart knowing that while it’s an exciting time for those families that can go home, there are still families that lost their homes and there are still 36 families in the community of ʔaq’am itself that are still on evacuation order,” she said.

The St. Mary’s River fire was last measured at more than 4,000 hectares in size.

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The BC Wildfire Service said there are 232 personnel working to contain it, but Duczek said a forecast shift in weather to a windy cold front could challenge them.

“We could have gusts, according to Environment Canada, of up to 50 or 60 kilometres per hour. That’s something that has definitely got all of us paying attention to all of this weather coming in,” she said.

“Obviously you just have to see how Mother Nature dishes things out.”

Further east, crews also battled the Lladnar Creek wildfire, just west of Sparwood.

That fire was discovered Friday and has grown to 150 hectares in size. It is believed to have been caused by lightning.

The BC Wildfire Service said the fire is burning in an area too steep and mountainous for personnel to access safely, but that ground personnel and heavy equipment are being deployed to the site.

An evacuation alert related to the fire was expanded Monday evening to include all properties on Upper and Lower Matevic Road and all properties in Sparwood Heights south of Sparwood Heights Drive.