Group of firefighters were trapped by encroaching flames Sunday evening

Photo: Huszar Visuals

A military helicopter flies in front of the White Rock Lake wildfire Sunday.

A group of firefighters on the White Rock Lake wildfire were caught in a scary situation off Westside Road Sunday night after their escape routes to the north and south were cut off by the fast-moving fire.

Strong winds of up to 70 km/h whipped through the Interior Sunday afternoon and into the evening, causing extreme fire behaviour on the massive White Rock Lake fire, and rapid growth. Despite the incredible efforts of firefighters, by Monday morning, upwards of 60 homes in the Ewings Landing and Killiney Beach area were destroyed.

At about 11 p.m., when fire activity really began to pick up, one group of wildland and structure protection firefighters were forced to seek shelter for more than an hour after the fire swept across Westside Road to the north of them, by the Six Mile area, and to the south, near Ewings Landing.

“It cut off access along Westside Road for a while, so they sheltered in place in a safety zone,” said fire information officer Forrest Tower.

“So, not any imminent threat. That's kind of the point of those safety zones, is just to have somewhere to fall back to, and then once fire activity kind of died down they were able to make it back to camp at about 2 a.m.

“Definitely not something that anyone on a crew wants to go through.”

The crew of about 10 people sought refuge in large gravelled area near the corner of Westside and Westshore roads during the frightening ordeal. The area had been previously noted as a safe area to fall back to.

“Whenever we're working ... they'll have safety points or safe areas throughout the fire line, so if they do need to withdraw from an area, they have somewhere that they can go back to that's safe to be in for a while,” Tower said.

He added that if the situation had become worse, they could have used an RCMP or Kelowna Fire Department boat to rescue the group, but the fire never encroached on their safety area.

But Tower said the fire conditions Sunday night were some of the worst many of the firefighters had seen.

“From just talking to them, they were saying it's some of the most active, extreme fire behaviour they've certainly seen,” he said. “It was definitely some very, very active wildfire there last night and even into the early hours of the morning.”

During a press conference Monday, Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth referred to Sunday night's frightening situation along Westside Road, and praised the firefighters for their efforts.

“The speed at which these fires move continues to challenge our professionals. It underscores how important it is for people to follow the directions of First Nations and local governments immediately,” Farnworth said.