A large wildfire in the Shuswap is showing minimal growth, and there’s no imminent concern of potential structure loss.
That’s according to the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, which says BC Wildfire Service specialists generated three-day and 10-day growth projections for the Lower East Adams Lake wildfire.
The fire, discovered on July 12 and thought to have a suspected cause of lightning, is currently sized at 2,527 hectares.
Burning on the east side of the lake, the fire’s southern flank is close to the community of Dorian Bay.
The regional district said BC Wildfire’s fire model assumed zero wildlife suppression, “therefore, the model is likely to overestimate the actual growth that will happen.”
“The modelling shows that even with no fire suppression at all, the fire is only projected to come to 1.5 kilometres from the nearest structure,” said the CSRD.
However, the blaze is being fought with eight helicopters and 10 pieces of heavy equipment.
“The Lower East Adams Lake Wildfire is a full response fire, which means active fire suppression will continue through aerial operations,” said the regional district. “There have been seven days of bucketing operations for the helicopter’s full daily flying limit.”
The fire’s growth, added the CSRD, has been on the north and west flanks, where it has burned downslope towards Adams Lake.
On Tuesday afternoon, an evacuation alert was partially rescinded for the area.
“The area of Dorian Bay remains on evacuation alert,” said the CSRD, “and residents should be ready to leave on short notice, if necessary.”