Fire crews in the Okanagan are confident that their efforts to contain the wildfires in the region are going well.
BC Wildfire Services Incident Commander Glen Burgess says merging the Mount Eneas wildfire with the Monroe Lake fire earlier this week was hugely beneficial.
“The expectation was that we would bring the two fires together and reduce our perimeter that we were going to have to contain, as well as improve safety for the public and our first responders - we met all those objectives,” says Burgess.
The Mount Eneas wildfire was last reported to be burning at just under 1,800 hectares, and is classified as out of control, although it's not expected to cause any further problems.
While a few vehicles and smaller buildings in the woods have been affected by the fire, no primary residences have been reported as damaged or destroyed at this time.
Burgess says the biggest concern facing firefighters isn’t hot or dry weather, but instead strong winds.
“It would be in the event that there’s a thunder cell, and the winds become erratic, strong, and gusty.” says Burgess. “That’s really the fear at this time for us is that something like that comes along and potentially re-ignites these fires.”
Additionally, no further wildfires were reported from Monday evening’s thunderstorm.
Fires of note in the Peachland area include:
-The Mount Eneas wildfire (1,789 hectares)
-The Mount Conkle wildfire (118 hectares)
-The Goode’s Creek wildfire (577 hectares)
-The Law Creek wildfire (16 hectares)
As of Tuesday, all evacuation orders in the Central Okanagan have been rescinded, although just under 700 residences remain under an evacuation alert.
To stay updated on current wildfires and evacuation statuses, go to cordemergency.ca.