BURST
B.C. firefighters are bracing for more hot and dry weather, with wind gusts that could fan the flames in areas like B.C.’s drought-stricken Cariboo region scorched by wildfire.
The more than 732-square-kilometre Pear Lake wildfire continues to burn out-of-control north of Clinton and has led to four evacuation alerts and six evacuation orders affecting thousands of residents, including the entire Village of Clinton.
As more extreme fire behaviour is expected in the coming days, the B.C. Wildfire Service is warning residents to heed evacuation orders.
This after first responders had to extract someone from an evacuation order area who refused to leave, even becoming belligerent with firefighters.
Receiving an evacuation order can be “an unsettling and emotional experience” and some may be reluctant to leave, the service said in an update Wednesday night.
But choosing to remain puts “yourself, your family and first responders in danger. It’s not worth the risk,” the service added.
B.C. Wildfire Service incident commander Bryce Moreira said when fire crews asked the person to leave he became difficult.
“I won’t repeat exactly what he said but it was not in a nice way, and quite explicit,” he said.
The crews left and continued their work but were called back to the man’s property because fire was surrounding it and it was unsafe.
“Fortunately our crews were able to get that person to safety. All our crews are safe and so is that person as well.
Fire officials are concerned about hot, dry and windy weather over the coming days heading into the long weekend. They said there is potential for “heightened fire behaviour” on Thursday with the underlying drought conditions, especially as solar radiation decreases the moisture on the forest floor.
“Warm, dry and windy conditions remain challenging for firefighting. The possibility for new wildfire starts and increased fire behaviour remain possible in the days ahead,” the service said.
In an update Wednesday afternoon, Barbara Roden, chair of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District and mayor of Ashcroft said her heart goes out to residents in Clinton and surrounding areas.
“For a lot of people this is going to be one of the most traumatizing events that you live through,” she said.
“No matter what your experience of that wildfire is, whether you are someone who is finding out or is about to find out you have lost property, whether you are on evacuation order away from your home, whether you are on alert evacuation. It is a frightening, traumatic experience,” she said, adding that it’s a strength to reach out and ask for help.
She also urged residents to seek out reliable information and to be careful because there is so much misinformation and fake AI photos online.
More to come …