Rock Creek wildfire destroys 30 homes, still uncontained

“Whether they’re lucky enough to be cleaning their homes or whether they’re a family that needs a lot of support as they try to figure out what the next steps are going to be for them because their home has been destroyed… we’ll meet with the various people impacted”.

The Wilson’s Mountain Road is burning about one kilometre north of Oliver, which has a population of about 5,000 people.

The other blaze, the Testalinden Creek fire, ignited Friday evening about seven kilometres south of Oliver.

Officials confirm that blaze, which is suspected to have been caused by humans, has destroyed 30 homes but no one has been hurt. On Sunday she stood next to a charred piece of property on the shoulder of a nearby highway and stared in the distance at the fire burning near her house.

“Our crews worked very hard over the past few days to ensure that the corridor was safe so we could get people moving through the area and get the highway reopened.”

About 330 homes remain under an evacuation order.

The aggressive blaze forced campers at the Kettle River Provincial Park to rush out on foot last week with little more than the clothes on their backs, leaving nearly everything behind including vehicles and trailers, said Stanley.

“Any time there’s lightning cells and thunder cells it’s usually accompanied by a gust of wind, so that would not be good news for fire behaviour”, she said. Bernard told Star reporter Tamara Hynd there is no immediate threat to any structures at this time even though the fire can be seen from homes in the area. Currently, the regional district plans to escort people in small groups the park, and they hope to start that process sometime on Sunday after BC Wildfire Service has finished its danger tree assessment. “You just have to run”.

Some evacuation orders in the area were recently downgraded to alerts, meaning the occupants of 88 homes and businesses were allowed to return.

Rob Hardy said he opened a gate and let the animals go down the Trans-Canada trail. The cause of these fires has not been determined.

Residents near Oliver were forced to evacuate Friday after a pair of new wildfires broke out on either side of the South Okanagan town.

“You can’t guarantee anything with a wildfire”, he said. An evacuation order remains in place for approximately 100 homes in the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen.

Her neighbour, Spud Torrao, spent the night on top of his home, which was also saved by fruit trees.

“They’re all here”, he said, gesturing to crews.

The region’s agricultural backbone may have prevented more extensive losses, said a spokesman for the Oliver Fire Department. “They’re all now looked after thanks to the hospital auxiliary”.