‘A serious situation’: Wildfire erupts in Williams Lake, state of local emergency declared
Posted July 21, 2024 7:28 pm.
Last Updated July 22, 2024 7:04 am.
A state of local emergency has been declared in Williams Lake after a wildfire erupted in the community Sunday evening.
Williams Lake Mayor Surinderpal Rathor confirmed to CityNews just before 9 p.m. that he had signed the declaration just hours after the fire was sparked.
He said the River Valley wildfire has everyone worried.
“There’s definitely a few structures that have been affected,” he explained, though he would not go into specifics.
“We are requesting people preserve water, stay out of the area, and stay calm. Watch and listen to the news … I’m sitting in my office, and I’m updating the community by the minute, as it comes to me.”
The state of local emergency allows the city to “undertake emergency measures to respond to and limit any damages to health safety and property,” the city explains.
Waterbombers and wildfire crews were dispatched to the River Valley area around 6:30 p.m.
Flames were being reported in the southwestern side of the community, with people in the city saying they jumped into an industrial part of town.
Footage from residents posted to social media showed thick black smoke coming from an area that housed an auto-wrecker business.
The BC Wildfire Service explained the cause is still under investigation, however just after 10 p.m. the city’s Emergency Operations Centre director Rob Warnock said the fire sparked after a tree fell on a power line.
The fire is considered “out of control,” meaning it “is spreading or it is anticipated to spread beyond the current perimeter, or control line.”
‘Wildland and structures on fire’
Jeromy Corrigan, a BC Wildfire Service information officer at the Cariboo Fire Centre, explained that the River Valley wildfire started late Sunday afternoon, inside the Williams Lake fire jurisdiction.
As of 10 p.m., it was an estimated 20 hectares.
“What’s made it challenging is that crews are dealing with wildland and structures on fire,” he told CityNews.
He said BC Wildfire Service crews are supporting Williams Lake firefighters.
“The crews have been working on all three sides of the fire, and as a result, the fire has remained at 20 hectares in size. We know residents in Williams Lake have been very curious … The big thing from the fire centre’s perspective is, we just recommend that any residents avoid the area in a situation like this,” said Corrigan.
Corrigan said that in addition to attack teams on the ground, several aircraft were also assigned to this fire to support the local fire department.
Given the different terrain involved, Corrigan said it has been beneficial to have BC Wildfire crews and local firefighters working together to tackle the various aspects of the situation.
— Charlie Carey (@careycharlie_) July 22, 2024
Images shared with CityNews show aircraft dropping fire retardant and water on buildings within Williams Lake.
Thick, black smoke was also seen rising from some buildings, as nearby residents reported ash falling onto their properties.
Locals reported that officials are going door to door to alert people to evacuate or be ready to evacuate their homes, if necessary.
— Charlie Carey (@careycharlie_) July 22, 2024
The City of Williams Lake said its Emergency Operations Centre was activated at Level 3 in response to the River Valley wildfire.
Evacuation alerts were initially issued for properties between Highway 20 and Mackenzie Avenue to the Jackpine Sawmill Access Road on Mackenzie Avenue near Atlantic Power’s Williams Lake plant. They have since expanded.
“We are telling people to get ready, get water ready, and get your water ready, get your shoes ready, get your wheels ready, stay off the road, don’t travel if you don’t have to, and let firefighters … move around,” Mayor Rathor said.
Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Minister Bowinn Man confirmed on X that “tactical evacuations have taken place,” and that “additional alerts have been issued.”
“Be prepared for possible evacuation and conserve water for fire crews,” she said.
People are being urged to avoid the area and to conserve as much water as possible to “ensure adequate water supply for emergency crews working on the wildfire in the Williams Lake River Valley.”
“The City is working alongside the BC Wildfire Service and other emergency organizations to support fire operations from its EOC and will provide updates as they become available,” officials wrote Sunday.
Lorne Doerkson, MLA for Cariboo Chilcotin, said in a video posted to social media Sunday that “a serious situation” was developing in the area.
“It does appear to be a very serious fire. BC Wildfire is on it from the air in a heavy way. I can see that the Williams Lake Fire Department is also on site right now,” he said in the footage.
“My suggestion is you stay out of the way of first responders.”
Doerkson said that “there are explosions and certainly growth in the fire,” but added crews are “taking this very, very serious.”
Despite the fire, Rather said the community has been preparing for something like this.
“I’m so proud of my community. I can’t say enough — they take everything seriously. When we request, they are always there to help and listen and await any request we make.
The new fire comes as much of the province continues to deal with hot and dry conditions. Williams Lake and its surrounding areas are currently under a heat warning, with Environment and Climate Change Canada saying “elevated temperatures are expected.”
“An extended period of high temperatures will continue as a ridge of high pressure remains over the region. Little relief is expected at night with elevated overnight temperatures,” ECCC’s warning reads.
Williams Lake resident Michelle LePlace told CityNews Monday morning that it was a terrifying night.
“People in a couple of different communities, on the other side of the river, were put on evacuation alert,” she said. “It’s smoky and hazy here. … but lots of people are terrified that it could spread.”
“We’re super grateful to all the fire suppression crews from everywhere that managed to launch and throw everything at it. They had the water bombers from Ontario attacking it, they had skimmers, they had helicopters with buckets. I don’t think they could have done anything more than what they did,” she added.
“We’re a strong community, and we always tend to rally together no matter what the circumstance and will do so again,” LePlace said.
LePlace shared that the fire is bringing back memories of the firestorm in 2017.
“I think every time smoke rolls into the valley, people get very anxious because you wonder where it’s coming from,” LePlace said. “This being right in the city … just high anxiety for everybody because 2017 was very, very scary. People had no idea whether the fire would rage right through town and take out everything.”
–With files from Angelyna Mintz and Catherine Garrett
