Smoke from out of control wildfires in Williams Lake, B.C., are shown in this Sunday, July 21, 2024 handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO — BC Wildfire Service
WILLIAMS LAKE, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA – Residents of Williams Lake, B.C., got a front-row look at the wildfire fight to save their community, with water bombers swooping low and dropping red fire retardant, crews spraying structure fires from ladders and RCMP evacuating residents.
The BC Wildfire Service said fire crews were “mopping up” Monday after Sunday’s dramatic battle to save the B.C. Interior community.
The River Valley fire reached the western edge of the town, destroying some structures in an industrial area and prompting evacuations as the city declared a local state of emergency.
Resident Spencer Stratton said “well over 100 people” had gathered about a block away from the fire front to watch crews battle the flames.
“Everybody was panicked, (which was) understandable because the fire was less than a road across from us,” he said.
“It was one set of buildings away from us – that’s how close the fire was.”
The River Valley fire, which the BC Wildfire Service said had grown to 40 hectares in size by Monday, is one of more than 330 blazes burning in B.C., with clusters along B.C.’s boundary with Alberta as well as in the central Interior.
Fire activity has been surging across B.C. The Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness said there are about 440 properties on evacuation order and 3,000 under alert, calling the situation “dynamic and everchanging.”
Stratton said he watched as the River Valley fire crept into the outskirts of the town by around 6 p.m. Sunday, spreading to buildings and vehicles at local businesses.
Videos shared on social media showed smoke billowing from behind businesses on MacKenzie Avenue as fire spread behind a school bus depot. Stratton said the buses were unscathed.
WL Forestry Supplies said in a Facebook post that the MacKenzie Avenue store had been saved thanks to the efforts of fire crews.
“We got lucky. Lost some equipment out back, but nothing serious,” the post said, adding that power was out and the store was closed.
Cariboo-Chilcotin legislator Lorne Doerkson said in social media posts that the fire “burned into our community last night very quickly,” prompting an “incredible response” from the BC Wildfire Service as a well as the Williams Lake Fire Department and other first responders.
Doerkson, who said there had been “explosions” during the firefight Sunday on the outskirts of town, said the efforts of the fire crews “had a massive impact.”
“There are some small spot fires, but I will say that there are very many groundcrews and equipment fighting what is left of this fire,” he said in a Facebook post around midnight Sunday.
In another post Monday he said fire crews from as far as Barrière more than 200 kilometres away had been involved.
Stratton said he remained calm and slept “peacefully” Sunday night at his home about eight kilometres from the fire, knowing crews were working to contain the blaze.
He said he went to MacKenzie Avenue Monday and the fire “looked contained,” although firefighting continued.
The wildfire service said firefighting aircraft would be working Monday to “cool down hot spots.”
“I believe they have it under control,” Stratton said.
But other residents weren’t so certain. Stephanie Symons said Monday that she had been getting messages and calls from friends “wondering what to do and if it’s time to pack up and go.”
“The fire is still very much active and flaring back up so I can’t tell you much other than we are all stressed and it’s not over,” Symons said in a message. “We just got a severe thunderstorm warning on top of all this so we are nowhere near in the clear yet.”
Environment Canada issued the warning just before 11 a.m. Monday. The BC Wildfire Service noted in its situation report Monday that the province had seen more than 20,000 lightning strikes on Sunday. It had previously said fires are showing up in areas that have seen dry lightning strikes in recent days.
Rob Warnock, the director of the Williams Lake emergency operations centre, said residents had been told they can go home after the tactical evacuations conducted by Mounties on Sunday.
Warnocksaid in a video posted to the city’s website last night that those homes remain subject to an evacuation alert, meaning residents must be ready to leave again quickly.
The alert spans properties along Mackenzie Avenue, Country Club Boulevard, Fairview Drive, Woodland Drive, Westridge Drive and Tolko’s Lakeview Mill.
Warnock said the blaze was sparked when a tree fell on power lines in the river valley on the city’s west side at about 5:45 p.m. Sunday, though the BC Wildfire Service website said Monday that the official cause is still under investigation.
With the winds at the time, Warnock said the fire “made a big run” down the valley on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, the city had asked residents to conserve as much water as possible for fire crews taking on the blaze.
B.C. Premier David Eby said Monday the government was bringing in all the resources it can to help people threatened by wildfires in the province.
“It’s an incredibly stressful time for a lot of British Columbians. We’ve got hundreds of people on evacuation order. We’ve got thousands on notice that they may need to evacuate their homes. And this is unfortunately, the beginning of the fire season that we were concerned about,” Eby said during an unrelated news conference.
The number of B.C. “wildfires of note,” that pose a risk to people or property or are highly visible, increased from one to four as fire activity spiked over the weekend.
A couple hundred kilometres northeast of Williams Lake, the Cariboo Regional District declared a local state of emergency due to the Antler Creek fire, issuing evacuation orders for the District of Wells and the historic mining tourist town of Barkerville over the weekend.
The evacuation was expanded Monday to include the popular tourist destination of Bowron Lake Provincial Park. Not all of the park is under evacuation order, but most of the lakes are included along with the Mount Tisdale Ecological Reserve, an area of alpine parkland.
In the southern Interior, the nearly 200-square-kilometre Shetland Creek wildfire prompted the Thompson-Nicola Regional District to expand an evacuation order along the Thompson River between Ashcroft to the north and Spences bridge to the south.
The district said about nine properties have been added to the order that now covers a total of 97 addresses, while residents of another 213 properties have been told to be ready to leave on short notice.
The BC Wildfire Service said nearly 140 firefighters and 12 helicopters are currently assigned to the blaze. The regional district has confirmed that some structures in the Venables Valley area have been lost to the fire.
The other fires of note are the Aylwin Creek and nearby Komonko Creek fires, both in the province’s southeast.
The Regional District of Central Kootenay has ordered multiple evacuation orders for both fires.
The intense fire activity across B.C. has been associated with a hot spell that sent temperatures in the Interior past 40 C in recent days. Environment Canada has 28 heat alerts in place for Interior and eastern B.C., although alerts have been lifted in western regions.
Smoke from the wildfires has also resulted in special air quality statements being issued for almost the entire eastern side of B.C., from the Washington border to Fort Nelson in the province’s northeast corner.
The B.C. Ministry of Transportation’s DriveBC information system said that Highway 1 remained closed for 39 kilometres, north of Spence’s Bridge to Cache Creek, where the wildfire service said the Shetland Creek fire had been showing “highly vigorous” behaviour on its eastern flank Sunday.
— By Brieanna Charlebois in Vancouver. With files from Chuck Chiang and Darryl Greer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2024.
