Crews continue to battle Spatsum Creek wildfire
Posted May 13, 2013 2:36 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
ASHCROFT (NEWS1130) – Some people living near Ashcroft are being allowed back into their homes. This comes after 50 properties were put under evacuation orders, with two resorts in the area are also threatened because of the Spatsum Creek wildfire.
Strong winds made the fire difficult to contain and it nearly doubled in size overnight. 14 square kilometres have now been scorched.
The fire has destroyed a building, but it’s not somebody’s home.
“It’s an outbuilding,” explains Steven Rice with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, noting that there is a lot of tension in the community with the flames burning so close to people’s properties.
“It’s sort of a scary situation because you don’t know which (homes) are threatened depending on the wind,” he says.
“The wind was going east-west at one time and then it switched to south-to-north. We have swirling winds here and that, I think, is a big part of the issue.”
Rice says that doubt is tough to take in a small town like Ashcroft, where everyone is likely to know someone directly affected by the evacuation order.
The weather might bring some relief to the town today. Fire Information Officer Kayla Pepper says the winds are expected to ease off.
“We were seeing winds of 40 to 60 kilometres an hour out there and they remained fairly strong into (last) night,” she says.
“So the fire was burning, fairly aggressive, in the crowns of the trees.”
“We are expecting favourable weather conditions today with some lighter winds and even a chance of precipitation,” she adds.
“So that should help crews out on the ground.”
Pepper says there are more than a hundred firefighters on the ground, with six helicopters and seven pieces of heavy equipment helping to fight the fire.
People who have been forced out of their homes have been told to check in at the community centre in Cashe Creek. Highway 97C remains closed between Ashcroft and Logan Lake because of smoke drifting over the highway.
The fire is said to be human-caused, but its exact origin has not been determined.
