Weather Helps Crews Keep Snowy Mt. Fire Away From Homes: Latest

Aug 5, 2018 | 8:45 AM

An overview as of Sunday morning regarding the Snowy Mountain fire.

Fire Information Officer Claire Allen told Beach Radio News as far as any new developments overnight there is not that much new information to report.“

What that means is they didn’t see any of that nocturnal growth they’ve been experiencing over the past few nights. “The strong down slope winds didn’t materialize last night as they saw much lighter winds” reiterated Allen.

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Also assisting in the control efforts the spotty precipitation in the Similkameen Valley yesterday was able to raise the minimum relative humidity enough to dampen that nocturnal fire behaviour that has been a challenge over the past few nights.

And as far as doing any damage to homes in the area no primary homes have been lost. Some outbuildings and pieces of farm equipment also were affected primarily overnight Thursday and Friday.

It’s expected to remain hot and dry throughout the weekend, and that’s prompted the BC Wildfire Service to warn residents to be ready to leave in a moment’s notice if an evacuation order is issued.

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A quick look at the Snowy Mountain fire…with cooler temperatures and some spotty precipitation Saturday, winds remain an issue. They shifted from the north to south, and are now prevailing from the north again.

Crews continued to work to tie the fire perimeter into rocky slopes to keep it from wrapping around the mountain towards the Keremeos area.

Last night, aggressive fire behaviour occurred on the Snowy Mountain Fire with extreme winds out of the north. BC Wildfire Service night crews responded in conjunction with the Keremeos Fire Department to prioritize life and safety within the evacuation order area.

Additional resources were deployed to assist, including initial attack crews and officers out of Penticton and BC Wildfire Service Incident Management Team staff. Several outbuildings and pieces of equipment were lost, but no primary homes were affected.

Hwy 3 is now open in both directions,

The Wildfire Service says lightning strikes could spell trouble for the Okanagan, the Bulkley-Nechako region, and much of southern B-C.

by Duane Grandbois