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The Bald Range fire forced the entire evacuation of Summerland, population 12,000, as well as surrounding communities last weekend after it exploded in size and roared west.Steve Dunsmoor/The Canadian Press
Residents of more than 2,600 properties near Okanagan Lake are being allowed home after wildfire evacuation orders were lifted and damage assessments showed no residences lost, although orders remain in place for a separate fire threatening Summerland, B.C., to the south.
The Quilpituk Creek fire that has been burning since Aug. 1 was declared held on Thursday.
The Central Okanagan Regional District said Friday that evacuation orders from Cinnabar Creek to Westshore Estates were downgraded to evacuation alerts, while alerts for properties south of Cinnabar Creek in the Wilson’s Landing area were lifted.
A spokeswoman for the district said 2,648 properties had orders downgraded to alerts, while 312 properties previously on alert had that status lifted.
Jodie Foster said officials had “completed the rapid damage assessment yesterday and no properties have been lost in the Quilpituk Creek fire.”
Meanwhile some of the first evacuees from the British Columbia wildfire that has been threatening Summerland and Peachland on the shores of Okanagan Lake are being allowed home.
The District of Summerland says evacuation orders for about 400 Trout Creek properties east of Highway 97 have been rescinded, while the Central Okanagan Regional District’s emergency operations centre says orders for properties in Peachland will also come down at 6 p.m.
All those residents are now on evacuation alerts, while thousands of other properties in Summerland and the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen remain under evacuation orders imposed last weekend as the Bald Range wildfire roared west.
The District of Summerland is telling returnees to fill their gas tank, bring a minimum of three days of food and essential supplies and co-ordinate the safe return of pets and livestock.
The Bald Range fire has meanwhile been showing increased activity on other flanks, with a new evacuation order imposed for some properties on Princeton-Summerland Road to the west of Summerland.
Premier David Eby says a wildfire in B.C.’s South Okanagan region that forced about 20,000 residents to evacuate on Friday moved at an unprecedented speed. He says during a briefing in Penticton that the wildfire’s rapid movement is a new normal.
The Canadian Press
Residents of more than 2,600 other properties on the Central Okanagan had been allowed home earlier Friday, a day after a different blaze, the Quilpituk Creek fire, was declared held.
The Bald Range fire forced the entire evacuation of Summerland, population 12,000, as well as surrounding communities last weekend after it exploded in size and roared west.
It now measures about 190 square kilometres.
B.C. Premier David Eby told an unrelated news conference on Friday that the province was continuing talks with the federal government on how they can best assist the province in the fire fight.
He noted the first request B.C. made after it declared a provincial state of emergency on Saturday was for more accommodation to be made available. He said military barracks were offered, but were not needed.
“The requests of the federal government are really currently in the spirit of the emergency moment, making sure that our wildland firefighters — that they have all the resources they need and if they feel that the military could provide support to them, that the federal government is ready to go to assist us,” he said.
Evacuees recount fleeing B.C. wildfires as Ottawa readies military to assist with relief efforts
The premier said the province is expecting “another significant fire” this season, and it continued to work with the federal government to ensure there are accommodations made available for evacuees.
Eby said Summerland’s water supply had “taken a significant hit” and the province planned to sit down with local leaders to understand the scale of what was needed, including from the federal government.
“It’s just at this point, while we’re still in the middle of the emergency, our conversations with the federal government are about those emergency logistics right now.”
Rogers Communications meanwhile said it had opened up satellite phone and data services to its wireless customers across British Columbia in a bid to keep residents connected during wildfire season.
It said technology that was typically only offered in areas without traditional cell coverage added a “layer of connectivity where it’s needed.”
The company said opening access to satellite mobile service boosted safety for residents when cell towers may be damaged by wildfires.
There are about 110 fires burning across B.C., with about 50 out of control.