White Rock Lake fire continues to threaten area despite cooler weather

KAMLOOPS (NEWS 1130) — It’s finally raining between Kamloops and Vernon — areas of the province which have been fighting wildfires since mid-July. However, the rain has been both a blessing and a curse.

Armstrong Mayor Chris Pieper tells NEWS 1130, his city saw a slight drizzle overnight which is “just absolutely fantastic .. we could use more rain.” However, he adds the biggest concern is the wind.

Thousands of properties are still under evacuation orders or alerts linked to the now 55,000 hectare White Rock Lake fire.

The entire city of Armstrong is one of the areas on alert. Pieper says the fire is still fairly far away from the city, but everyone should be prepared to leave.

“We want people to be calm but definitely look around your home, [take note of] what is important, and just do an inventory and what you want to take and what you don’t want to take. And be prepared.”

“It’s a big fire, and it’s really moving … and Mother Nature is in control.”

Armstrong is providing emergency shelter for people from Falkland, Westwold and the west side of Okanagan Lake who’ve already been forced out of nearby communities.

Meanwhile, one of the people forced to flee Monte Lake because of the White Rock Lake Fire, explains to NEWS 1130 it’s a surreal feeling.
Don Tryon says he tried to stay at his home and fight some of the flames, but eventually, he had to take off.

“The fire came so quickly. It jumped the freeway … and I was going to stay and fight it but it was so intense I had to leave, it was unbelievable,” he says.

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Unlike some of his neighbours, Tryon says while his house is doing okay, his woodshed is gone.

He’s staying with friends in Kamloops in the meantime.

“It’s like a haunted place now. It’s all that green timber is black strands now.”

This is not the first fire Tryon has seen. He also made it through the wildfire which tore through his region in 2017.

On Friday, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth expressed frustrations with boaters getting in the way of firefighters and the mayor of Vernon, Victor Cumming says he shares the disappointment.

“Keep away from the west side of Okanagan Lake. Not helpful at all.  If we get the right conditions and we bring in aircraft and having individuals around in boats makes it very, very complex.”

He admits he was anxious watching ash and embers fall Friday night in Vernon.

“People want a lot more information than we actually have on an hour-by-hour basis. This is a very active fire, it’s changing rapidly, the impact on communities to the north when it moved very, very quickly over the last couple of days, indicates that information is changing and changing quickly heavy, heavy smoke, limits the ability to see actually what’s happening on the ground fire crews are very active.”

Vernon has also been providing shelter for people cleared out of nearby communities, so Cumming says anyone seeking a place to stay should check with friends and family who may also be under an evacuation alert.

Hannah Swift with the BC Wildfire Service says Saturday’s rain has been a huge relief for crews trying to build as many guards as they can before the weather heats up again on Monday.

“Today, we are expecting winds similar to yesterday. So we’re going to see 10 to 20 kilometre per hour winds, southwest with gusts upwards of 25 to 40 kilometres per hour. So just with those wind gusts, those sustained winds can align with terrain features in the area where we see higher rates of spread and active fire behaviour.”

There are now 13 helicopters, 38 pieces of heavy equipment and at least 250 firefighters on the ground tackling the White Rock Lake fire.

Swift says visibility in certain hot spots is poor, so some aircraft can’t go up.

“As smoke conditions allow, we will be using and support those ground crews.”

Highway 97 remains closed between Pleasant Valley Road and Monte Creek, a few kilometres north of Vernon.

Westside Road is also closed between Pinecrest and Six Mile Creek Road east of West Kelowna.

For traffic updates, tune into NEWS 1130 for the latest reports 10 minutes on the ones. Or visit NEWS 1130 Traffic on Twitter.