‘Cooling trend’ to help ease wildfire fight in B.C.’s Shuswap region

A “cooling trend” is expected to accompany precipitation in B.C.’s Shuswap region this week, lending a hand to wildfire crews working to contain the out-of-control Bush Creek East wildfire.

The BC Wildfire Service said Wednesday that significant fire behaviour hit the Turtle Valley area Tuesday night, as predicted, but officials are “confident” the guards will hold.

“The perimeter is very jagged, lots of pockets, lots of fingers. It’s a really tricky fire to get at,” said BC Wildfire Service information officer Mike McCulley in a public briefing.

“For us, we’re still somewhat optimistic that we may see a little more (rain) on some portions of the fire.”

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As a precaution, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District issued a new evacuation order for 14 properties in Sorrento. The greatest concerns continue to be for the Sorrento and Turtle Valley areas on the southwestern end of Shuswap Lake.

“The threat is low, but the fire is active and was active last night,” said Derek Sutherland, the Emergency Operations Centre director.

Most of the directly affected residents were already evacuated but search and rescue teams were sent out around noon Wednesday to speak to remaining impacted residents, he added.

The district did not send out an Alertable notification for the order due to the small number of properties impacted, he explained.

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The Bush Creek East fire is still burning at around 43,000 hectares in size, with thousands of nearby properties still under orders to leave.

To date, it has destroyed at least 131 structures and partially damaged another 37.

However, no major growth to its overall size has been observed in the past week and Tim Conrad, public information officer for the emergency operations centre, said this week’s forecast is “one of the best” crews have seen since mid-August.

Conrad also repeated the near-daily call for members of the public to steer clear of firefighters who are actively working to douse flames and hotspots.

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Over the weekend, the BC Wildfire Service enlisted the help of civilians in the fire fight, training and paying them for their time.

Some of those residents have since said they’re struggling with some costs, like gassing up their car to get to the front lines and getting compensated for it, as well as accessing meals on the job.

McCulley said once staff submit their kilometres driven, they will be reimbursed. A rate per kilometre is added to paycheques, as per the negotiated agreements.

When it comes to meals, Sutherland said civilians just need to notify him to be integrated into their system.

The reception centre in Salmon Arm, meanwhile, will close at noon on Thursday, he added, and relocate to the nearby Fairfield Inn and Suites, and reopen on Friday morning.