South Okanagan fires remain out of control

It’s now been four days since Richard Hellyer was forced to flee his home due to the fast-moving  Upper Park Rill Creek wildfire and the that moment is still crystal clear in his memory.

“We heard some crackling and popping and saw the smoke so I raced back down, called 911, then got our family organized and started knocking on neighbours’ doors and people started to evacuate,” Hellyer, a Twin Lakes, B.C., evacuee, said.

The Upper Park Rill Creek wildfire near Twin Lakes is currently the more intense, though the smaller, of two South Okanagan fires burning near communities.

Mapped at 1,090 hectares in size, its proximity to houses has put 246 properties on evacuation alert near Twin Lakes and another 257 are on an evacuation order. An emergency centre is available in Penticton at Princess Margaret Secondary School for any evacuees.

“It’s scary, just like anyone that can attest to it…. Just like in Kelowna and Keremeos, it just so happens we got unlucky,” Hellyer, whose home escaped the fire, said.

One home, however, has been lost, according to reports.

2:59 House and horses lost in Crater Creek Wildfire

“A house fire that started Friday morning … may have led to a forest fire and that started the process of the evacuation orders,” said Subrina Monteith, Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen Area I director.

The fire also came too close for comfort for those in the Willowbrook community on Friday.

“It grew fast, the wind carried it heavily and quickly and the alert and order came back to back because it was coming quickly,” Rick Knodel, RDOS Area C director, said.

The other fire, the much larger Crater Creek wildfire in Keremeos, also remains out of control. It is currently estimated at 41,000 hectares in size, and 195 properties are on an evacuation alert and 13 are on an evacuation order near Keremeos.

On Sunday they had 10 BC Wildfire Service personnel along with 30 structure protection personnel assigned to the incident and they’re being assisted with multiple pieces of heavy equipment on the ground as well as aircraft when it is available.

“There have been visibility challenges in the area with the amount of smoke that is present so aircraft will only be assisting when it is safe to do so and that smoke has cleared,” Monteith said.

2:02 Wildfire smoke worsens across the Okanagan

“Crater Creek wildfire is burning in steep and dangerous terrain which is challenging to response efforts as well to responder safety so crews are only responding to portions of this fire that are burning in accessible areas where it is safe to do so and when there are identifiable objectives for them to complete.”