US Fire Threatening BC Park

New evacuation orders have been issued due to rapid growth of a Washington state fire that has moved into BC.

The Diamond Creek Fire, which grew by 64-hundred hectares overnight, is now threatening a provincial park, as we hear from Robert Turner of Emergency Management BC.

“Due to the rapidly changing fire conditions, Cathedral Provincial Park near Keremeos has been closed. Campers and visitors at Cathedral Parks Lodge are in the process of being evacuated,” says Turner.

The Diamond Creek Fire is said to be the main cause of the smoke and ash in the Okanagan.

The Elephant Hill Fire has also shown new growth, leading to new evacuation orders for areas south of Highway 24 in the Cariboo Regional District.

“There has been some heightened activity on the Elephant Hill Fire, says Ryan Turcot, an information officer with the BC Wildfire Service.

“A lot of that would be due to a combination of unsettled weather, higher wind, and it’s still very dry out there.”

There are 145 fires burning in BC including 17 new ones since Tuesday.

The amount spent to fight the more than 11-hundred fires this season is estimated at 419 million dollars.