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Wildfire near Edgewood burning at 4,600 hectares

Michaud fire nearly doubles

The Michaud Creek wildfire in the Kootenays has grown substantially since yesterday.

On Wednesday July 21, the fire was burning out of control at 2,670 hectares.

As of Thursday July 22, that blaze had been mapped at 4,600 hectares.

The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) earlier issued an evacuation order to include the communities of Edgewood and Needles north to Whatshan Lake for a total of 356 properties.

A post on the BC Wildfire Service website said “fire behaviour continues to be a mainly moderately vigorous surface fire, with pockets of highly vigorous torching and intermittent crown fire. The fire is currently staying south of Johnson Creek, movement is still halted by the established control lines and the area of a previous fire.”

Across the Upper Arrows Lake from Edgewood, the Octopus Creek fire is burning out of control at 4,200 hectares. On Wednesday July 21, the Octopus Creek fire was mapped at 3,192 hectares.

An evacuation order remains in place for the community of Fauquier.

A post on the BCWS website states, “Aggressive fire behaviour continues to be observed and the fire has expanded again on the north, east and west flanks. It is very visible from Edgewood, Fauquier, Needles and surrounding areas.”

However, there is some good news.

“The fire's advance towards the town of Fauquier has slowed compared to previous days, allowing crews to work on further control line options,” said the BCWS.

The fire is being actioned by 21 firefighters, two helicopters and three pieces of heavy equipment.
Weather conditions are not looking good for any of the fires in the region.

“Strong winds are expected to continue today and keep driving aggressive fire behaviour in the Interior, Southern Interior, and southeast region of the province. These winds will begin to diminish over the coming days.”



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