Along with 15 helicopters and 40 pieces of heavy equipment, there are 260 wildland firefighters assigned to the Keremeos Creek fire, along with 166 structural protection personnel from BC fire services – including several from the Capital Region.
It’s getting dark as Craig Ford and a group of island firefighters return to base camp at Oliver in the south Okanagan.
They had just cleared forest fuels and implemented other fire prevention measures around residential and other buildings in Olala, a small community near Penticton that was evacuated as the Keremeos Creek wildfire raged down the slope.
Their 12-hour day – which began at Apex Ski Resort and a call to Olalla – continues with a ride back to camp. Heavy smoke covers parts of the highway and the landscape.
Crews will have time to eat, shower and sleep before heading to areas where buildings and people are threatened by the fast-moving fires.
“We’re here to help protect structures,” said Ford, a Saanich firefighter who arrived Monday and will remain indefinitely. “That’s our main focus.”
He leads a strike team that also includes firefighters, engines, tankers and other equipment from Saanich, Central Saanich, Metchosin, Mill Bay and Victoria.
They are centered on the mountain resort of Apex, where crews from urban fire departments across BC have set up what Apex General Manager James Schalman describes as the “most extensive” sprinkler system the BC Wildfire Service has ever deployed .
The Keremeos forest fire, which started on July 29, had grown to 5,903 hectares by Saturday and prompted evacuations.
The resort west of Penticton, with dozens of homes and cabins, was evacuated Monday. Ford said firefighters built a massive sprinkler system connected to large pools of water that were connected to the roof lines of homes and buildings to create “moisture bubbles.”
Ford said crews are also clearing brush and providing structure protection to outlying areas. As of Saturday afternoon, 547 properties were under evacuation orders and another 1,050 properties were under evacuation alerts, according to the Okanagan-Similkameen Regional District.
Warmer temperatures on Saturday increased fire activity in the region.
Michael Elsay, fire information officer for the British Columbia Fire Service, said the increase was expected and crews were prepared for it.
“Crews are making good progress over Olala putting in hand guards, so they’re doing a good job of creating containment lines,” he said.
“Crews in the northern section have also been working hard to establish barriers north of Sheep Creek Road.”
Along with 15 helicopters and 40 pieces of heavy equipment, there are 260 wildland firefighters assigned to the Keremeos Creek fire, along with 166 structural protection personnel from BC Fire Services
Ford said Island crews are proud to play a role during wildfire season. He said local departments have to calculate the risks involved in sending firefighters far from their home municipalities, but in some cases local departments have enough staff to afford to hire people and equipment for wildfire efforts.
“If we leave these areas to fend for themselves, they just won’t be able to.” … These fires and the danger of these fires are so enormous,” Ford said. “With multiple departments providing these areas with their resources and infrastructure, it makes protection easier.”
The Saanich and Mill Bay divisions each sent four crewmen and an engine. Central Saanich and Metchosin sent two members and trucks each, while Victoria sent one member – Kirk Corby, a 19-year veteran of the Victoria department.
Victoria Fire Deputy Chief Dan Atkinson said Corby had a “unique skill set” in bushfire operations, having worked for the service in several roles, including as a “smoke jumper”, parachuting into fire areas, to to launch attacks. He served as a task force commander in the South Okanagan.
But like several other municipal fire services, Victoria’s contribution to fighting bushfires this year has been minimal as it deals with the holiday season and leaves piled up by the pandemic.
Deputy Chief Scott Davidson of Langford Fire Rescue said there were no immediate plans to send personnel to the front lines of the wildfires.
He said the department was operating with “minimum staff” to cover the vacations and holidays that had accrued over the past few years. However, if the wildfire situation worsens, the department may consider manning.
Davidson said Langford has partnered with the View Royal and Colwood fire departments over the past few years to analyze staffing and resources so that neither municipality is short on the front lines during wildfire season. But staff so far have kept departments advocating for their local communities, he said.
“We’re short staffed right now and we want to make sure we can protect our area,” Davidson said.
Provincial officials warned this week that August could see more fire activity with drier and warmer conditions expected.
“Seasonal and above average” temperatures are in the forecast.
“The increased fire danger is expected to shift from the northern part of the province down to the south,” said Neil McLoughlin, chief of forecasting services for the British Columbia Wildfire Service. “The large fires that started in July will remain active in August and further growth of these fires can be expected.”
As of Saturday, there were 57 active fires in the province.
dkloster@timescolonist.com
— With file from Castanet
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