TNRD expands evacuation alerts near Sparks Lake wildfire
KAMLOOPS — The Thompson-Nicola Regional District has expanded the evacuation alert surrounding the Sparks Lake wildfire to include 287 more properties Thursday (July 1).
The properties are largely in Electoral Areas “E” (Bonaparte Plateau) and “O” (Lower North Thompson), as listed below:
- 5160 to 5450 Bonaparte Lake;
- 9628 to 10096 Bonaparte-Spur Lake Forest Service Rd;
- 7550 to 7900 Bonaparte-Young Lake Forest Service Rd;
- 1605 Boule-Young Lake Rd;
- 8852 to 8920 Cleveland Rd;
- 5885 to 9593 Clinton-Upper Loon Lake Forest Services Rd;
- 8928 to 9252 Eagan Cres;
- 6385 to 9550 Eagan Lake Rd;
- 280 to 5760 Eagan-Bonaparte Lake Forest Service Rd;
- 7248 to 7365 East Young Lake Rd;
- 6000 French Rd;
- 1500 Hutchinson Rd;
- 3381 to 6620 Jamieson-Spruce Grove Forest Service Rd;
- 5250 and 5440 Machete Lake;
- 5128 to 5720 Machete Lake North Rd;
- 8101 to 9715 Machete Lake Rd;
- 6220 and 6221 Montana Lake Rd;
- 7181 to 7480 North Bonaparte Rd;
- 2996 to 3185 Reed Rd;
- 5200 Secret Lake;
- 8233 Sharpe Lake Access No. 1 Rd;
- 1780 to 2265 Sharpe Lake Rd;
- 1820 to 1885 Taylor Rd;
- 7016 to 7190 Young Lake Subdivision Rd
Properties located within the boundary in the map below are also included.
Image Credit: TNRDResidents of those properties should be ready to leave on very short notice.
More than 160 properties remain under evacuation order due to the Sparks Lake fire.
As of the noon hour Thursday, B.C. Wildfire officials still listed the fire at 20,000 hectares in size, but Fire Information Officer Shaelee Stearns says the smoke is making it difficult to get a sense of how large the fire has truly become.
“The fire has seen significant growth, but with the smoke that we’re seeing, we’re unable to get an exact track on it, so we don’t have an estimate for it right now. We do have 13 helicopters standing by to be able to fly in the smoke, and eight pieces of heavy equipment are working on the southeast flank of the fire today,” said Stearns.