Residents of B.C.’s wildfire-stricken Shuswap region will soon learn fate of homes

Residents of British Columbia’s Shuswap region forced from their homes by a destructive wildfire just over a week ago will soon learn the fate of their properties.

Derek Sutherland, director of the emergency operations centre for the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, says staff will start reaching out to residents today.

He told a briefing Sunday that the estimated number of properties destroyed by the Bush Creek East wildfire is unchanged at 131, with another 37 sustaining damage.

Sutherland says the regional district is planning to open a resiliency centre in Salmon Arm to support displaced residents “now and well into the future.”

The 430-square kilometre Bush Creek East blaze is one of B.C.’s 12 “wildfires of note,” meaning they’re highly visible or pose a threat to public safety.

Mike McCulley, an information officer with the BC Wildfire Service, says crews tackling the blaze have been focusing on its perimeter west of Sorrento, as well as the Lee Creek and Manga Bay areas and around Adams Lake.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2023.

The Canadian Press