The Glen Lake fire in the Central Okanagan, which quickly grew to 763 hectares after first being spotted on Saturday, has remained roughly the same size for the past 24 hours.
On Tuesday, the BC Wildfire Service said crews, with help from cooler temperatures, are slowly making progress on the blaze that’s located around six kilometres from the community of Peachland.
According to BC Wildfire, six helicopters and two attack crews are battling the blaze, along with heavy equipment.
“Yesterday, aircraft deposited retardant lines on the northeast side of the fire and are available again today if necessary,” said fire information officer Evan Lizotte.
He added that helicopters have mainly been fighting the fire since the weekend and will continue doing so. Also, heavy equipment is being used to construct fire guards along the fire’s west side.
“The fire exhibited Rank 4 behaviour (highly vigorous surface fire with torching or passive crown fire) yesterday,” said Lizotte.
“The fire behaviour has reduced somewhat today, with sustained wind speeds dropping and wind gusts tapering off a bit.”
Residents in the Central Okanagan on Tuesday awoke to brisk temperatures, with the mercury hovering around 7 C.
Lizotte said that drop, plus higher humidity levels, have reduced the fire to Rank 2 or 3.
Tuesday night’s forecast is calling for a few showers and an overnight low of 9 C, with Wednesday seeing a mix of sun and clouds, a high of 16 C plus a 30 per cent chance of showers. The overnight low is projected to fall to 5 C.
“There’s still some work to be done, but the weather has been very helpful,” said Lizotte. “It’s been much cooler than it was over the weekend and the winds have significantly dropped.”
One evacuation order and a handful of evacuation alerts are in effect.
Central Okanagan Emergency Operations says residents under evacuation alert must be ready to leave at a moment’s notice and be away from their property for an extended period of time.
BC Wildfire also said Peachland residents may notice fire crews and apparatus in their neighbourhoods conducting advance planning over the next few days during this wildfire.