Wildfire prompts B.C. regional district to place 85 properties on evacuation alert

Dozens more properties in the B.C. Interior have been placed on evacuation alert as the Bush Creek East wildfire near Adams Lake fills the air with thick smoke.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District says it expanded the evacuation alert to 85 addressed properties Monday, also closing a boat launch to keep recreational boaters off the water to allow aircraft to work unimpeded as blazes burn on both sides of the lake.

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The regional district says conservation officers and the RCMP are patrolling the lake to make sure boaters aren’t straying into the path of aircraft involved in fighting the fires.

Both the Thompson-Nicola and the Columbia Shuswap Regional Districts have evacuation orders in place for two wildfires burning on opposite sides of Adams Lake — the Lower East Adams Lake wildfire and the Bush Creek East wildfire.

The BC Wildfire Service says the Lower East Adams Lake Fire is burning at 4,823 hectares in size, while the Bush Creek East Fire is estimated at 1,789 hectares in size. Both are suspected to have been caused by lightning.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District says it issued the alert Monday to prepare people in case they need to flee, warning that changing conditions could mean minimal notice if the alert is elevated to an order to evacuate.

The regional district placed 13 properties along a forest service road on evacuation order Sunday due to the Bush Creek blaze, days after a fire on the other side of the lake prompted an evacuation of dozens of properties serviced by a cable ferry.

With files from James Paracy