The Lower East Adams Lake wildfire in B.C.'s Shuswap region is shown in a handout photo. Wildfire crews in British Columbia are bracing for an incoming weather system expected to bring strong winds and dry lightning by Thursday, but conditions are already flaring in at least two areas of the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-BC Wildfire Service **MANDATORY CREDIT**
VANCOUVER – About 80 campers have been evacuated from Cathedral Provincial Park in southern British Columbia after being trapped overnight by a nearby wildfire.
Dale Bojahra, a co-ordination officer with the BC Wildfire Service, says an increase in wind speed yesterday triggered a “dramatic increase in fire behaviour” by the Casper Creek wildfire and the nearby Gillanders Creek blaze.
An evacuation order was issued as the fires grew from a combined 11 square kilometres early Tuesday to what the wildfire service estimates is now 100 square kilometres.
Officials had said that nearby Cathedral Lakes Lodge was not in immediate danger, but conditions on the rough access road, including wildfire debris, meant that sheltering in place was the best option for campers and staff trapped there while an evacuation plan was formed.
Brittany Seibert, an emergency program co-ordinator with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, says a route out of the park was cleared by wildfire service staff and a convoy carrying the campers left around 1 p.m.
She says the district is aware of one person who was hiking in the area, and search and rescue is actively working to bring them to safety.
“We have worked very diligently on that today and we’re feeling quite confident we have managed to identify and notify, and get people out,” Seibert told a news conference Wednesday.
A separate fire, west of Lillooet, also grew more threatening on Tuesday, prompting renewed evacuation orders and alerts for the communities of Shalath and Seton Portage, along Seton and Anderson Lakes.
Wildfire crews across B.C. are bracing for an incoming weather system expected to bring strong winds and dry lightning by Thursday.
Erick Thompson, an information officer with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, said the Crater Creek fire had forced evacuation orders for 13 properties along the Ashnola River and in the Snowy Protected area of Cathedral Provincial Park, as well as Cathedral Lakes Lodge.
He also confirmed residents in 74 other properties along the Similkameen River west of Keremeos were told to be ready to leave on short notice.
“Things did move very quickly,” Thompson said, describing the fire behaviour as “challenging.”
“There was an evacuation alert put in place at approximately 5 p.m., under the advice of the BC Wildfire Service,” Thompson said. “From there until there was an evacuation order put in place at 10:15 p.m., certainly conditions changed.”
Thompson said 20 campers self-evacuated from a recreational campsite on Buckhorn Creek after midnight.
The wildfire service website said it was close to lifting evacuation orders covering more than 200 properties around Gun Lake, north of Pemberton, where the 26-square-kilometre Downton Lake fire has destroyed three properties, but because of the incoming wind and potential lightning, those plans had been stalled.
The wildfire service website showed roughly 370 blazes across B.C. late Wednesday, including 147 ranked as out-of-control.
The wildfire danger rating has climbed to high or extreme across the southern third of the province and a large section of the central Interior as a heat wave brings sweltering temperatures to those regions.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2023.
