BC Wildfire Service implements area restriction around Nk'Mip wildfire near Osoyoos

UPDATE 8:50 p.m.

An area restriction has been put into effect for the Nk'Mip Creek Wildfire by BC Wildfire Service on Saturday evening.

This area restriction reflects the continued need to protect the public in areas where ongoing fire suppression activities are taking place and to avoid interference with fire control.

This order went into effect at noon on Saturday and will remain in effect until 12 p.m. on Oct. 15, 2021, or until rescinded. The order applies to Crown land within the geographic boundaries outlined in the map, shown below or online here.

It means "a person must not remain in or enter the restricted area without the prior written authorization of an official designated for the purposes of the Wildfire Act."

Exceptions include a person enters the area only in the course of:

• Travelling as a person acting in an official capacity;
• Travelling for the purpose of supporting wildfire suppression activities.
• Travelling to or from his or her principle residence that is not under an evacuation order;
• Travelling to or from private or leased property for the purposes of accessing a secondary residence or recreational property that is not under an evacuation order;
• Using a highway as defined in the Highway Act; or,
• Engaging and/or participating in agricultural activities pertaining to livestock or agriculture management on private or leased property.

Road closures and area restrictions are subject to change depending on fire activity. For ongoing updates, visit the bans and restrictions section of the BC Wildfire website for the Southeast Fire Centre online here.

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UPDATE 8:10 p.m.

The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary issued evacuation orders for the Mount Baldy Ski Resort earlier Saturday due to the Nk'Mip Creek wildfire.

An estimated 50 people are impacted by the order spanning from Mt Baldy Ski Resort, east to include the west side of Fish Lake West Road, Belchrome FSR and Conkle Lake Provincial Park.

A total of 126 addresses are now under order. A full list can be found here.

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UPDATE: 3:05 p.m.

Castanet's Casey Richardson is live taking a look at the Nk'Mip Creek wildfire from a vantage point near Oliver Saturday afternoon.

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UPDATE: 2:15 p.m.

The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen has 568 properties under evacuation order as of Saturday afternoon due to the Nk'Mip Creek wildfire.

At a media update, RDOS communications coordinator Erick Thompson said that total reflects two newly added properties, at 1266 McKinney Road and 5900 McKinney Road.

He said that unfortunately, there will be no permit access granted for people on evacuation order to visit their properties.

"People who are on evacuation who may want to return to their properties for whatever reason, given the volatility of this wildfire, BC Wildfire is not able to provide any access at this moment," Thompson said.

The Emergency Support Services reception centre in Oliver is closed Saturday to allow the volunteers running it time to recharge, but anyone with questions can still have them answered by calling 250-486-1890, and anyone on alert or order is asked to register for support at ess.gov.bc.ca.

A full list of properties in the RDOS under evacuation alert or order can be found here.

The Town of Osoyoos also has properties under alert, which can be found here.

BC Wildfire Service estimates the Nk'Mip Creek fire at 6,800 hectares as of Saturday afternoon. 146 personnel, a combination of firefighters and an Incident Management Team, are on scene, along with five helicopters and 41 pieces of heavy equipment.

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UPDATE: 1:45 p.m.

The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen will be providing a live update on the wildfire situation within the region at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Tune in live above.

The Nk’Mip Creek wildfire near Osoyoos has been active Saturday.

BC Wildfire Service Incident Commander Jane Park said the fire is burning at 6,800 hectares but some progress is being made.

“It has been quite challenging in terms of terrain as well as the fuel conditions. But we are making progress on several of the flanks,” said Park.

The fire is being actioned by 145 personnel, five rotary wing aircraft and more than 40 pieces of heavy equipment.

“Right now we are working on structure protection in the north along the Osoyoos Indian Band lands as well as Shrike and in the south to Anarchist Mountain,” said Park, adding they are starting to implement guards on the south and the east of the fire.

“The fire has been quite active throughout the day, so we've had crews working overnight to protect structures and to keep it within our containment lines,” said Park in a teleconference Saturday afternoon. “We have structures that have fires near them in various areas.”

Park said the fire is moving into more heavily wooded areas.

ORIGINAL

More evacuation orders have been issued because of the Nk’Mip Creek wildfire.

The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen has issued two more evacuation orders for Electoral Area C.

The new evacuation order is for 1266 McKinney Road and 5900 McKinney Road.

The Nk’Mip (Inkameep) Creek wildfire is burning six km north of Osoyoos and is burning out of control at 6,800 hectares.

Crews worked through the night to protect structures in and around the Shrike subdivision. A 20-person unit crew arrived last night and their first day on the fireline is today.

Today, crews are continuing suppression action and structure protection work on the north and south edges of the fire. Division A is patrolling and monitoring the north edge and west flank, looking for hot spots. They will be looking for burn off operation opportunities to reinforce existing guards and protect structures. Division Z is continuing containment and structure protection on the south.

Heavy equipment will work on constructing a machine guard to the east and near Shrike. The terrain is steep and rocky in some areas which can limit the use of equipment. Construction of machine guard on the south flank is ongoing.

There are 146 personnel, five helicopters and 41 pieces of heavy equipment.

The Osoyoos Indian Band downgraded some evacuation orders to evacuation alerts earlier today.