By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
While steady progress is being made on the Keremeos Creek wildfire, the western flank north of Olalla continues to pose a challenge according to the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS).
“The area we are still looking at trying to move resources into is the western flank between Keremeos Creek and the Olalla Creek FSR in what we are referring to as the ‘uncontained flank’. We are still trying to get crews allocated to that spot,” said Mikhail Elsay, information officer with the BCWS.
The issue on this flank he says, is the fire is ‘stuck’ down in the steeper portions of the valley and hasn’t come up onto the plateau, making it difficult to get crews on the fire.
The other key piece of the puzzle is resource availability to simply get crews into that location, he adds.
“It takes up a lot of time to commit resources into that difficult terrain and we are currently still committed to a lot of interface zones for mop up and containment. So once we can get crews freed up from the ground they are currently working we will move them into that new terrain,” he said.
Crews are currently conducting some smaller ignitions along the Olalla Creek Forest Service Road (FSR) further away from the community as the BCWS continues to try and consolidate lines.
In its latest update prior to press time on the afternoon of August 10 the BCWS estimates fire is now 6,836 hectares in size.
Part of the growth in fire size is coming from controlled burns being undertaken by BCWF crews, Elsay said noting that 413 firefighters – wildland and structure protection – are currently engaged on the fire.
Keremeos Creek wildfire as of Aug. 9, 2022
Hwy 3A is still closed to traffic as it is an active worksite as crews continue to mitigate some of the hazards and work to try and get the corridor open as soon as possible, he noted.
Meanwhile the BCWS continues with its strategy of ‘connecting the dots’ to join fire containment lines that crisscross the fire area.
“We currently have crews and containment from the case staging just north of Sheep Creek Road travelling all along Hwy. 3A and wrapping around the Olalla Creek FSR.” Crews are working from those two directions he said, adding that “good progress” is being made along this corridor.
“On the northern section above Green Mountain Road we have crews building lines from Mackay Creek Road basically trying to tie into the power lines that run over Green Mountain Road and they are starting to look at doing direct attack methods there.”
He added that in this area crews are looking to “go direct to the fire up at the height of land in that area so that’s going to be a bit of slower process to get containment there, but crews are established there,” he added.
The cooler weather over the last couple of days has been a welcome relief for firefighting crews with Elsay noting the biggest benefit for the crews is that “it’s not as draining on their bodies and the equipment will work a little longer.”
“The weather we are tracking is an upper low pressure with subtropical moisture coming up from Oregon tonight and tomorrow.” But while the low may bring rain and cooler temperatures there is concern that it may also bring thunderstorms which could result in wind and lightning.
Erick Thompson, information officer for the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) noted that the Emergency Operations Centre continues to receive substantial inquiries for Emergency Access Permits. He urged residents to be patient, reminding them that its important to stay away from the areas under Evacuation Order.
“We have a bunch of heavy machinery and we are moving them around between sites typically off of forest service roads, particularly the Olalla Creek FSR where we are committing a lot of resources right now,” added Elsay.
“We also have a lot of structure protection equipment – water tenders and fire engines – moving in and out of some of those smaller streets, so just the volume of traffic from that equipment is significant,” he cautioned.
And as evacuation orders eventually lift, the region will still have a lot of activity with firefighters and equipment said Thompson. “It’s important to respect the roadways as you are travelling through these areas and not be too impatient if you’re trying to get around and maybe have some challenge with the equipment.”
Elsay added: “Slow down, give everyone as much space as possible. We will be working on this fire for a considerable time,” he warned.
