Suppression efforts ramping up on Sorrento front of Bush Creek fire

Wildfire resources have been redistributed to address the growth on the south flank of the fire burning in the Shuswap.

Mike McCulley, B.C Wildfire Service Liaison, said while there was minimal wind Tuesday and cooler temperatures in the area near the Bush Creek East wildfire, the wind did pick up overnight and caused the fire to spread in the Turtle Valley and Sorrento areas.

“[Tuesday] night we saw some significant fire behaviour on the top of the hill above Turtle Valley. There’s a ridge up here that is sort of open, a bit of open slash in this area, and what that causes is the sun and the wind getting in and drying the fuels up, so when a fire hits it, it lights it and then it sort of picks up a little bit, and that’s what we saw [Tuesday] night,” McCulley said.

“The other piece is the inversion we have been seeing. Inversion means that cooler air is trapped lower in the valley and the warmer air is high above the ridge tops, so early in the day [Tuesday] and into [Wednesday] as well probably, the warm, driest part of the fire was on the tops of the hills.”

The fire moved down the hill during the night but McCulley said it wasn’t a big frontline, and local and provincial fire crews were able to stop it from spreading into Sorrento through a fire guard and suppression efforts.

“We feel confident we are going to hold the fire there,” McCulley stated.

The Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) did order 14 properties near the fire perimeter to be evacuated Wednesday, although the residents had reportedly already left their homes overnight.

READ MORE: No structures lost as wildfire nears Sorrento

McCulley said more wildfire resources were dispatched to that active flank of the fire Wednesday morning, including two helicopters bucketing from the air.

“One thing to note is when our helicopters are bucketing, the ground crews need to be out of the way,” McCulley noted.

“There are a lot of hazards that occur when you’re putting water on trees. They knock trees over, especially trees that have had their roots compromised by wildfire, and they also knock the limbs off of trees. So when you see aircraft bucketing, it’s sort of a coordinated effort, it’s very strategically done. They’re working in conjunction with their ground crews, they’re talking all the time by radio and communicating to ensure that it’s safe and that the tactics and objectives are useful and successful.”

Across the lake in the Magna Bay area, McCulley said crews continue the work started weeks ago to build a fire guard, stating community firefighters who have also been in the area have now joined up with the BCWS to assist with securing the perimeter and providing valuable information to the provincial fire crews such as typical wind patterns.

He added there has not been any notable fire growth in the area recently.

The BCWS operations in the Shuswap are being supported by crews from Mexico working on both the east and western flanks of the Bush Creek East wildfire.

McCulley said gusting winds were expected Wednesday as well as a bit of precipitation, though noted the rainfall so far had not been enough to create a significant impact on the wildfire.

“We’re still somewhat optimistic we’ll see some more [rain] on some portions of the fire, but for now, as we say ‘no rain is rain until it’s in the gauge’ and we just don’t have a lot of that yet,” McCulley said.

McCulley added the wind has been easing off through the day and he hopes to see that continue while humidity rises and temperatures cool.

Tim Conrad, information officer with the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) Emergency Operations Centre, remained optimistic about the upcoming weather forecast.

“We do have a cooling trend that is happening over the next couple days,” Conrad said.

“That includes some rain, so some good conditions for our firefighters.”

Despite the promising forecast, the evacuation orders and alerts remain in effect and Conrad advised people be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice if required.

As of Wednesday, McCulley said the Bush Creek East wildfire still remained around 43,000 hectares, though noted there are some difficulties mapping out the exact size of the blaze.

“The perimeter is very jagged, lots of pockets, lots of fingers. It’s a really tricky fire to get a really precise handle on. But around 43,000 hectares, not a lot of change around that.”

As of Wednesday morning, the BCWS stated there were 311 wildland firefighters, 73 support staff, 73 pieces of heavy equipment and 78 structure protection personnel assigned to the Bush Creek East wildfire.

There were also 18 helicopters and an Incident Management Team assigned to the Adams Complex, responding to the Bush Creek wildfire and as the Rossmoore Lake wildfire near Kamloops as needed.