Baldy Resort locals extend support to Apex wildfire evacuees as Keremeos Creek blaze grows

As has been the case time and time again, B.C. communities are opening their doors to help support wildfire evacuees who have been forced from their homes due to the threat of flames.

In the southern Interior, people living in the Baldy Mountain Resort area are extending shelter to Apex Mountain Resort residents who have had to leave the area due to the Keremeos Creek fire burning southwest of Penticton.

“One of the locals reached out to me, just wondering if I knew anybody at Apex that needed a place to stay, and [saying] he would reach out to some other locals at the ski hill here,” explained Brendan Datoff, resort manager at Baldy Mountain.

“I worked at Apex for quite some time, so I know some people over there,” he added.

Related articles:

• ‘Risk is always there’: Apex Mountain evacuated as aggressive wildfire near Penticton grows

• ‘Vigorous’ Keremeos Creek wildfire near Penticton grows, forces evacuations

• Aggressive fire southwest of Penticton grows, evacuation orders issued

Hundreds of properties at Apex Mountain Resort are under evacuation order. The situation the Keremeos Creek fire has created is one many people in Baldy understand firsthand.

Last year, the Inkaneep fire threatened the community. What’s happening near Apex is now resurfacing some old memories.

“It’s kind of the same feelings that everyone’s having here, ‘Oh wow, it’s happening again,’ right? So everyone here is willing to step up and make sure the resort over there is going to make it,” said Datoff, who’s now entering his third season at Baldy.

“It’s much more rural up here, a little bit more of the countryside. You have a sense of peace, whereas down in the city you’re just kind of caught up in the hustle and bustle of everything all the time. It’s kind of nice to get away, and especially for the people at Apex, a lot of them live up there year-round.”

As of Tuesday morning, the Keremeos Creek wildfire was 2,790 hectares. The aggressive fire has been erratic, aggressive, and tough to fight, with the BC Wildfire Service describing it as “vigorous but not organized.”

The Keremeos Creek Wildfire near Penticton in the southern Okanagan on July 29, 2022. (Courtesy Twitter/BC Wildfire Service)

While the region is no stranger to wildfires in the summer months, Datoff admits it doesn’t get any easier to live through these situations.

“When it started out, it was quite wet which was a nice relief for a lot of people. Then all of a sudden July kind of hit and it slowly started to warm up and we started to look at it again, very similar to a year before of what can we do to make this situation a little easier?” he explained, adding there’s been a lot of “Fire Smart” work in the Baldy Mountain area to try to relieve some stress.

“I don’t think things are going to change much over the next few years, but I think there’s still going to be that sense of, fire is always going to be in the back of our minds.”

Anyone in need of support — or who would like to extend help in the Baldy area — is asked to contact the resort and Datoff either by email at ticketoffice@skibaldy.com or phone at 250.498.4086.