Four area wildfires currently pose no risk to Sun Peaks

While there was thick smoke throughout our region over the weekend due to multiple wildfires, none threatened Sun Peaks.

The two largest fires in the local area include the Bush Creek East fire, located 23 km northwest of Chase and west of Adams Lake and the Upper Cold Creek fire, south of Heffley Lake. Both fires’ suspected cause was lightning.

The Bush Creek fire started on July 12, is 265 hectares and considered out of control with 35 personnel responding to the fire, supported by one helicopter, heavy equipment and air tankers are ready to respond. Taylor Wallace, fire information officer for Kamloops Fire Centre, told SPIN weather on Sunday influenced the fire’s behaviour.

“Winds were between 40 to 60 kilometres per hour on site, which really increased the fire behaviour,” she said. “The smoky skies in the region cleared up, and we had direct sunlight  hitting our fires, as well as the temperatures increasing, which elevated the fire behaviour for crews on site.”

Wildfires are ranked from one to six, with the severity increasing as numbers climb. The Bush Creek fire is a rank 4, which means it’s a vigorous surface fire producing grey to black smoke, spreading at a moderate to fast rate on the ground and the fire can grow up to the forest’s canopy.

Wallace expects cooler temperatures below 30 degrees Celsius today, which could ease fire activity at Bush Creek. However, there may be thunderstorms later today within the vicinity, which could impact the fire.

The Upper Cold Creek fire has 14 personnel responding, is 71.5 hectares and the fire is being held. Under current conditions, the fire isn’t anticipated to grow, according to Wallace.

‘There’s absolutely no need to panic’

Sun Peaks Fire Rescue chief Dean Schiavon told SPIN residents are not at risk.

“There’s absolutely no need to panic,” Schiavon explained. He noted the Thompson-Nicola Regional District has not issued an evacuation order or alert for our area.

In addition, Wallace explained the wildfires are not currently near any structures that would lead to an evacuation.

To feel secure, Schiavon said residents should have a grab-and-go bag ready, make transportation arrangements and have vehicles charged or gassed since evacuations can take time.

In a post on its website, Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality (SPMRM) said that in an emergency, the Emergency Operations Center would be activated and would share information on SPMRM’s website and Facebook page.

The municipality encourages residents to download the Voyent-Alert App, which SPMRM also uses to alert the community of emergencies.

For anyone who doesn’t have transportation, the municipality can add them to a list to connect people with rides in the event of an evacuation by emailing SPMRM.

Two other fires ignited in the last week and previously reported by SPIN are Devick Lake and a spot fire 4.5 km west of the village. The Devick Lake fire is approximately 12 km from Sun Peaks and started on July 12. The fire is under control after a full response by BC Wildfire. Fire response personnel extinguished the spot fire 4.5 km outside Sun Peaks on July 12. 

Visit BC Wildfire Service’s website or download the BC Wildfire app for up-to-date information.

Call 1 800 663-5555 toll-free if you suspect a wildfire, or text *5555.
For an in-depth look at how air quality from wildfire smoke impacts our health, head to The Wren, SPIN’s sister publication. Kyra Grubb recently reported on this often-overlooked impact of wildfires.