KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Officials in British Columbia have managed to tally some of the heartbreaking losses from out-of-control wildfires that prompted the provincial state of emergency.
Cariboo Regional District chairman Al Richmond says their teams have gained access to areas where houses and other buildings have been destroyed northwest of 100 Mile House.
He says they'll be contacting each resident today with the news.
Further north from those fires, Richmond says crews have managed to hold back a blaze near Williams Lake to about five kilometres from the city's outskirts after it was fanned by strong winds Saturday, forcing the evacuation of the city.
Wind this weekend also caused a flare-up of the huge fire that started near the Ashcroft Indian Band reserve, which has charred just over 400-square kilometres west of Kamloops.
Near Kelowna, residents on all but 69 properties have been allowed to return to Lake Country after a human-caused fire was sparked Friday, destroying eight homes and forcing the evacuation of more than 300.
Lake Country Fire Chief Steve Windsor says the 55 hectare blaze started along the side of a road and is 75 per cent contained, but the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
OFFICIALS 'SCRAMBLING' TO MEET NEEDS OF B.C. WILDFIRE EVACUEES: MINISTER
KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Fast-moving wildfires in British Columbia are posing serious challenges for crews fighting to keep the flames from more than a dozen communities, officials said Sunday.
As many as 37,000 residents have been forced to leave their homes and are flooding into crowded evacuation centres amid a provincial state of emergency that Transportation Minister Todd Stone said could last "many weeks."
More evacuation orders were issued Saturday night as winds picked up in the Interior, jumping highways and threatening to cut off escape routes.
Thousands of residents who were told to leave the central Interior city of Williams Lake headed south to Kamloops, which has already become a temporary home for thousands displaced by wildfires this year.
Stone said resources in Kamloops are "approaching the point of being a bit stretched," but no evacuee will be turned away.
"Officials in Kamloops are scrambling to pull together any and all resources we can to meet the needs of all evacuees who show up here," he said during a conference call.
"We are going to get through this. We are resilient."
British Columbia last declared a state of emergency because of wildfires in 2003, when more than 50,000 people were evacuated from Kelowna and the surrounding area.
Robert Turner with Emergency Management BC said this year's fire season is unique because there are so many fires spread across the province and it's still early in the season.
"The difference this time is the geographic scope and that we're seeing multiple communities throughout (the province), and that it's earlier in the fire season so the possible duration of this is different," he said.
Kevin Skrepnek, B.C.'s chief fire information officer, said there were more than 160 wildfires burning on Sunday, including 15 that pose a very real threat to nearby communities.
"We were seeing violent behaviour out there on many incidents. In some cases we did have to withdraw our own personnel from the fire line to ensure their safety," he said.
Hot, windy weather has also caused a fire that started burning near Ashcroft to balloon and fire officials estimate it has now burned through 423 square kilometres.
Fire information officer Ellie Dupont said that blaze has gone through a few towns, but she could not say how many buildings were destroyed.
She said the fire is burning very aggressively because of the weather, the dry fuel and the region's topography. Every specialist who has come in to work on the fire over the past week has made a comment about how "nasty" the fire is, she said.
Another fast-moving fire raced through brush and forest above Okanagan Lake in the community of Lake Country on Saturday, destroying eight homes.
The fire escalated quickly, fanned by strong winds and it moved uphill fast, said Steve Windsor, Lake Country's fire chief.
"I want you to know we did everything possible to save and protect everyone's homes," he told a news conference on Sunday.
"We never want to lose property. It's against our basic nature as firefighters. But given the behaviour of the fire and how quickly it was moving, we did our best."
Forests Minister John Rustad said on Sunday that 2,900 people are battling blazes across B.C., including 415 from out of province. There are 203 aircraft assisting in the fire fight.
An EC130 helicopter working on a blaze west of Williams Lake crashed on Saturday, injuring the pilot. Rustad said the pilot, the only person on board at the time of the crash, was in stable condition on Sunday.
Williams Lake Coun. Jason Ryll said his truck was already packed and ready to go when the alert was issued late Saturday.
He said the drive out of town was surreal.
"The lineup of traffic, of people, leaving the city was incredibly long. It was a long ribbon of red tail lights, all headed in the same direction," he said. "It was almost dreamlike. A scene of a movie, almost, to be leaving in such numbers from your hometown."
Ryll made it to Kamloops and stayed the night, then headed north on Sunday to meet with the rest of his family members who left for Prince George before the evacuation order was issued.
The roads were much less busy after the evacuation order, and the streets are still blanketed in smoke and ash, he said.
"It's thick, thick smoke. You can taste it in the air," he said. "It's hard to comprehend."
As a city councillor, Ryll said he's frustrated that preventative action wasn't taken earlier.
Forests in the Interior "are tinder-dry, waiting for fire," he said. "We've gotten too good at fighting fires .... This is a problem that is not going to go away."
More than $81 million has been spent fighting wildfires so far this year.
RESIDENTS ORDERED OUT OF WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C., AHEAD OF FIRE FANNED BY HIGH WINDS
Thousands of Williams Lake, B.C., residents are being forced from their homes as high winds fan a wildfire burning next to the community.
An evacuation order was issued Saturday evening for the entire City of Williams Lake and numerous surrounding areas including the village of 150 Mile House that have been under threat from nearby fires for almost a week.
Cariboo Regional District Chairman Al Richmond said winds began to pick up Saturday afternoon, prompting an expansion of evacuation alerts.
"I think basically, Mother Nature is sort of bringing forward our worst case scenario," Richmond said.
Officials previously said forecast lightning and wind gusts of up to 70 km/h starting Saturday and developing into Sunday could cause a substantial increase in wildfire activity in British Columbia's central and southern Interior.
BC Wildfire Service said Saturday there are about 161 active wildfires in the province, 14 of which pose a direct threat to communities.
Raging wildfires have already displaced more than 17,000 people, while the provincial government says another 27,000 people have been told they may need to leave their homes at a moment's notice.
Many of Williams Lake's 11,000 residents had left voluntarily in recent days, however the order means thousands more will be headed to safety in Kamloops and other cities.
RCMP said road closures due to the fire means people driving out of the city must take Highways 97, 24 and 5 to get to Kamloops.
People who cannot drive should meet at one of a dozen muster points located throughout the city, including at Glendale School, the Tourism Centre, and Kwaleen Elementary School where transportation is being organized.
The province has reminded evacuees to register with the Canadian Red Cross and, if they need lodging or food, to register at emergency social services reception centres as well.
MP Todd Doherty told a group of evacuees in Prince George, who left their homes earlier this week, to urge others still in Williams Lake to stay calm and get to safety.
"If you are talking to your friends and family in the Williams Lake area as I am still trying to get my mom and relatives out of that area, very stubborn. It's very stressful, we need them to evacuate, we need them to be safe," he said.
With the rise in evacuees, the provincial government said more volunteers are needed in Kamloops to help the Canadian Disaster Animal Response Team, as well as a 24-hour animal shelter and runners to complete errands. Volunteers can contact 250-938-2211 for more information.
Kevin Skrepnek, B.C.'s chief fire information officer, said gusty winds were expected to trigger extreme and violently aggressive fire behaviour.
He said crews had been preparing for the winds by conducting controlled burns in the fire path near the communities of Williams Lake, 100 Mile House and 150 Mile House to prevent the fires from spreading.
"It looks like that has worked in most of these incidents in creating a fuel-free area," he said, adding that high wind speeds could still move embers beyond the controlled areas, spreading the fires.
Fire Information Officer Melanie Morin said stronger winds in the Thompson-Nicola area Saturday afternoon were causing fires to become "more critical than in recent days."
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District issued an evacuation order Saturday night for properties in Electoral Area "A," while the District of Clearwater and the Central Okanagan Regional District also ordered a number of properties evacuated due to the wildfire threat.
Premier-designate John Horgan released a statement late Saturday regarding the latest evacuations.
"My thoughts are with families in Williams Lake and other communities issued evacuation orders today, and with the countless volunteers, emergency response workers and firefighters who have been tirelessly working to support and protect families and communities."
Horgan also reiterated a pledge of government support.
"Our government will be ready to provide whatever support is needed in these difficult times," he said. "We are working closely with the outgoing government and our federal partners to deliver the support and services that are needed."
Since April 1, the province has seen 631 fires scorching 128,000 hectares of land. An estimated $77 million has already been spent on fire suppression, and the cost of supporting evacuees has yet to be tallied.
