Rotary-wing aircraft is being used regularly on the Horsethief Complex of fires near Invermere, B.C. as shown in this undated handout image. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, BC Wildfire Service *MANDATORY CREDIT*
KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Wildfires on both sides of Adams Lake in the B.C. Interior have prompted evacuation orders as crews continue to battle the blazes over the long weekend.
A post by the Columbia Shuswap Regional District on Sunday says the Lower East Adams Lake wildfire has grown minimally, days after residents were hastily evacuated after a drastic wind shift began blowing the fire toward lakeside properties.
The regional district says heavy smoke has made visibility poor and weather conditions are poised to increase the fire’s behaviour due to dry and hot conditions.
More than 90 properties in the regional district remain on evacuation order, and on the other side of the lake, 13 properties on a forest service road were ordered evacuated Sunday afternoon due to the Bush Creek East wildfire.
The lake is bisected by the boundary between the Columbia Shuswap Regional District and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, the latter ordering properties along the Adams West Forest Service Road evacuated late Sunday afternoon.
In the province’s northern Interior, the BC Wildfire Service said Sunday that members of the Canadian Armed Forces are now arriving in the community of Houston to help with the evolving wildfire situation in a record-breaking year for square kilometres burned.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2023.
