Campers trapped by wildfire near Keremeos are now out

Dozens of backcountry campers that had been trapped at Cathedral Provincial Park near Keremeos when two wildfires merged together Tuesday have now made it safely out of the area.

High winds caused the Gillanders Creek firewire to merge with the Crater Creek wildfire Tuesday evening, creating a massive blaze that is now over 10,000 hectares. It also trapped around 80 people who are staying in Cathedral park.

Erick Thompson, who speaks for the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, says they believe everyone got out via a convoy Wednesday.

“Anywhere we were not actually physically able to get to, we have sent patrols including aerial patrols, to ensure that people have been safely evacuated from the area,” Thompson said.

Both the fires started from lighting about a mongh ago but crews say because they were small and in remote areas, they were putting more resources into other fires. In the meantime, there’s new concerns the fire could get bigger in the next 24 hours as crews say an incoming weather system is expected to bring strong winds and dry lightning by Thursday.

A separate fire, west of Lillooet, also grew more threatening on Tuesday, prompting renewed evacuation orders and alerts for the communities of Shalath and Seton Portage, along Seton and Anderson Lakes.

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Residents in 74 other properties along the Similkameen River west of Keremeos were told to be ready to leave on short notice.

“Things did move very quickly,” Thompson said, describing the fire behaviour as “challenging.”

“There was an evacuation alert put in place at approximately 5 p.m., under the advice of the B.C. Wildfire Service,” said Thompson.

“From there until there was an evacuation order put in place at 10:15 p.m., certainly conditions changed.”
Thompson said those who are sheltering in place include staff and guests from Cathedral Lakes Lodge, plus campers close to the lodge and as many as 20 more campers who self-evacuated from a recreational campsite on Buckhorn Creek after midnight.

The lodge was not believed to be in immediate danger and Thompson said conditions on the very rough access road, including wildfire debris, made sheltering in place the best option.

“Work is being done to make sure everyone can be removed from the area safely,” he said.

The wildfire service website said it was close to lifting evacuation orders covering more than 200 properties around Gun Lake, north of Pemberton, where the 26-square-kilometre Downton Lake fire has destroyed three properties, but because of the incoming wind and potential lightning, those plans had been stalled.

The wildfire service website showed roughly 370 blazes across B.C., including 145 ranked as out-of-control.

The wildfire danger rating has climbed to high or extreme across the southern third of the province and a large section of the central Interior as a heat wave brings sweltering temperatures to those regions.

– With files from Robyn Crawford