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UPDATE:7:25 p.m.
The City of Vernon says the Emergency Support Services reception centre continues to receive a number of residents who are being evacuated due to the White Rock Lake Fire.
The reception centre is located at the Dogwood Gym in the Vernon Recreation Centre.
The centre will be available to receive new evacuee registrations until 8:00 p.m. on August 2.
As of August 3, the Reception Centre will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, until further notice.
All evacuees should register online with the ESS Evacuee Registration & Assistance (ERA) tool even if you do not require referrals such as housing or other services: ess.gov.bc.ca.
UPDATE: 6:40 p.m.
According to BC Wildfire, the White Rock Lake fire is now estimated at 32,312.0 hectares in size and is classified as out of control.
BCWS says conditions on-site continue to be extremely smoky, which is hampering the ability of aircraft to fly and is challenging suppression efforts.
"Variable amounts of precipitation were seen on the perimeter of the fire yesterday, August 1. The northern areas on the fire in the Westwold area received up to 10 millimetres of rain, which was enough to provide a reprieve from fire behaviour over the next 24-48 hours"
"The southern part of the fire received minimal precipitation. Temperatures are expected to remain in the mid-20s. Winds will be 10-20 km/hr with gusts up to 30 km/hr in the afternoon. In the south, fire behaviour continues to be quite active," BCWS said.
A ground-based retardant unit continues to reinforce control lines east of the fire perimeter.
According to BC Wildfire, the unit is a large truck that can apply the same type of retardant used by air tankers to help slow the spread of the fire.
"Northeast of the fire perimeter, crews and heavy equipment are continuing to work along a stretch of machine guard to contain the fire that comes down the ridgeline and constructing a fuel-free handguard to tie together pre-established control lines along this flank," BCWS added.
A total of 118 firefighters, 11 helicopters, six danger tree assessors, 42 pieces of heavy equipment, 12 support staff and BC Wildfire Service Incident Management Team continue to action the fire.
UPDATE 5:30 p.m.
New mapping of the White Rock Lake wildfire shows the growing fire is now about 12.5 kilometres from the western shores of Okanagan Lake at Killiney Beach.
The 32,000-hectare fire has been at its most active on its south and southeast flanks in recent days, jumping control lines at the Salmon River Forest Service Road.
The fire appears to be moving into the Whiteman Creek basin. The small creek runs directly north of Sugarloaf Mountain.
The Okanagan Indian Band said Monday evening the fire is about 13.5 km from its reserve boundary. The First Nation said residents may notice structural protection teams on reserve today.
“Structural protection personnel have completed a full assessment from Monte Lake towards the Falkland Corridor via Highway 97, as well as along Westside Road,” BCWS said Monday.
“Personnel are prepared to deploy structure protection apparatuses, as required, to Westwold, Falkland, Cedar Hills, Pinaus Lake, and Okanagan Indian Band IR#1.”
On the northern flank of the fire, growth has been less dramatic, but the fire remains within three kilometres of Highway 97 at Westwold.
Evacuation orders remain in place for Parker Cove and Westshore Estates. An alert is in place for everything north of Traders Cove on Westside Road. Other alerts and orders are in place in the Westwold and Monte Lake areas.
The RCMP have been patrolling evacuation zones.
UPDATE: 2:35 p.m.
According to CORD all evacuation orders and alerts remain in place north of, but not including Traders Cove within the Regional District of Central Okanagan, for the White Rock Lake Wildfire.
Drive BC reports that Westside Road remains closed to the public between Six Mile Creek Road and Pinecrest Road near Vernon.
View a detailed map showing affected properties at cordemergency.ca.
Emergency Operations Centre staff are working with other response agencies to manage the situation and minimize the impacts; however, affected residents should be prepared to obey an Evacuation Order. Visit cordemergency.ca for information on how to be prepared.
UPDATE: 9:56 a.m.
The Regional District of Central Okanagan has upgraded a previous evacuation alert to an order.
In addition, a State of Local Emergency has been issued for the RDCO along North Westside Road resulting in an evacuation order for all properties in Westshore Estates.
The order was issued Sunday night. Properties now under the RDCO's evacuation order include:
- 11100 Antler Road
- 801 Beau Park Road
- 11000 Bouleau Lake Road
- Select properties on Bouleau Lake Road (no civic address, please see map)
- 980 Gates Road
- 10780 Whiteman Creek Road
- 11140 Whiteman Creek Road
- Select properties on Whiteman Creek Road (no civic address, please see map).
- All properties in Westshore Estates
The Thompson-Nicole Regional District also issued an evacuation alert for the following 76 addresses properties on Monday morning:
- 12480 Douglas Lake Rd;
- 9140 Fraser Rd;
- 4920 Lauder Rd to 5420 Lauder Rd;
- 5091 Northcott Rd to 5127 Northcott Rd;
- 7160 and 7200 Roche Lake Rd;
- 7000 Smith Lake FSR;
- 4570 Wildwood Rd to 4621 Wildwood Rd; and
- any properties with the boundary outlined on the map below
There have now been several evacuation alerts and orders issued by four regional districts and one First Nation in relation to the White Rock Lake fire. Residents near the fire should check with each local government for details on past alerts and orders.
UPDATE 9:30 a.m.
The BC Wildfire Service says “variable” amounts of rain fell on the White Rock Lake wildfire on Sunday.
The northern areas on the fire in the Westwold area received up to 10 millimetres of rain, which was enough to provide a reprieve from fire behaviour over the next 24-48 hours.
The southern part of the fire, where it has been at its most active, very little rain fell.
Temperatures are expected to remain in the mid-20s. Winds will be 10-20 km/hr with gusts up to 30 km/hr in the afternoon.
“In the south, fire behaviour continues to be quite active,”BCWS said.
The fire is estimated to be 32,312 hectares in size.
Today crews along the southern flank of the fire will be working along Beautiful Road to mop up the excursion south of the Salmon River Forest Service Road, east of Salmon Lake.
Structure protection personnel are preparing to deploy structure protection apparatuses in the community of Monte Lake and Pinaus Lake as required.
Today, personnel will begin working along Westside Road to evaluate resource and equipment requirements should it be required.
Westside Road remains closed to incoming traffic through the evacuation zone on OKIB lands due to the fire.
UPDATE: 7:47 a.m.
The City of Vernon activated their Emergency Support Services Reception Centre to receive evacuees from the White Rock Lake wildfire.
The Reception Centre is located at the Dogwood Gym in the Vernon Recreation Centre (3409 35th Avenue).
- All evacuees should register online with the ESS Evacuee Registration and Assistance tool even if you don't require referrals such as other housing services
- Due to a shortage of hotel accommodations, the city asks people to consider making arrangements to stay with family or friends if possible. Take pets with you if you can
- If you require services, please visit the Vernon ESS Reception Centre. The Reception Centre will close at 2:00 a.m. on Aug. 2 and will reopen at 8:30 a.m. on the same day.
ORIGINAL: 5 a.m.
Crews are hoping for a “slight reprieve” in the fight against one of the most aggressively burning wildfires in B.C.
The White Rock Lake wildfire, last estimated at 32,000 hectares between Vernon and Kamloops, has prompted evacuation orders and alerts spanning four regional districts and one First Nation. New alerts for the Fintry and Wilson Landing areas were issued late Sunday night.
“Crews are continuing to work towards safe, achievable operational objectives under extremely adverse conditions,” BCWS said Sunday, explaining they have been working closely with forest industry partners in fighting the blaze.
“Local industry knowledge is invaluable to operational success,” BCWS added. Heavy equipment operators have been working through the night, accessing areas that would otherwise be inaccessible due to volatile fire behaviour during daylight hours.
Over the weekend, the fire grew aggressively along the south flank where it jumped the Salmon River Forest Service Road, a previous control line.
“Where feasible, heavy equipment has been working towards developing secondary containment lines south of this flank.”
Rain that fell Sunday is expected to slow the rapid spread of the fire somewhat, but not enough fell to make a significant difference in the long term.
Crews are still being hampered by heavy smoke, which is preventing aircraft from flying at times.
Firefighters continue to patrol completed machine guards on the northwest and southwest flanks. A water delivery system and hose guard is reinforcing those areas while crews look for opportunities for controlled burns.
A ground-based retardant unit is also reinforcing control lines in the east.
There are close to 100 firefighters, 41 structural protection specialists, 39 pieces of heavy equipment, air support and other staff assigned to the fire.
