Send this page to someone via email The BC Wildfire Service merged the Mount Eneas and Munro wildfires near Peachland on Sunday. Incident Commander Glen Burgess said the decision to conduct a controlled burn and connect the fires was made for safety reasons, with temperatures forecast to soar in the coming days. “We haven’t moved into the extreme hot weather or much hotter weather that is predicted and lower humidity,” Burgess said. “We wanted to try and get it done before that happened. But while it’s going to get warmer and dryer over the next few days, we don’t anticipate any winds, it’s going to be stable.” Firefighters first carried out a test burn to determine the situation was safe. The BC Wildfire Service is merging the Mount Eneas and Munro Creek wildfires https://t.co/htM0M3HvTA — Shelby Thom (@Shelby_Thom) July 22, 2018 Burgess said the burn, about four kilometres south of Peachland, would create an increased plume of visible smoke. Story continues below advertisement Merging the fires decreases the fire perimeter and helps keep the wildfire off of steep slopes, bringing it to workable, safe terrain for ground crew, Burgess said. He added that it would increase the total fire size by about 10 per cent, but would come with a corresponding decrease in risk as the controlled burn used up excess fuel. In preparation for the fire merger, air tankers created a fire retardant line on the northwest corner of the fire. Burn operations were carried out with both helicopter and by hand ignition. Advertisement<doc-sep>Fire crews conducted controlled burns Sunday around Peachland, B.C., to burn off dry trees and brush in between a large wildfire known as the Mount Eneas fire and another nearby blaze. Glen Burgess with the B.C. Wildfire Service says it was important to conduct the burns in current weather conditions, which have been cooler, "rather than allowing Mother Nature to do it when we didn't want it to occur." Crews dropped ping-pong balls full of combustible fuel into the area, which ignited when they hit the ground. Aircraft then dropped fire retardant around the perimeter of the burn to keep it in place. It resulted in a plume of smoke that some locals may assume is increased fire activity. "Obviously it can be unnerving," said Burgess. "That plume of smoke was most likely to occur, we'd just rather do it on our terms." The planned ignitions that took place this afternoon on the Mount Eneas and Munroe Lakes #BCwildfire were successful. They are now combined and will be referred to as the Mount Eneas wildfire moving forward. As a result of these 2 fires merging, this fire is now ~1,516 has. pic.twitter.com/czzpJ0WZdJ —@BCGovFireInfo Though many of the fires burning through B.C. 's Okanagan stabilized on Saturday thanks to cooler conditions, officials are expecting they could ramp up again as temperatures rise. "The situation is definitely stabilized from where we were at, say, 72 hours ago," said fire information officer Kevin Skrepnek. "Having said that though we are expecting, starting today and really for the foreseeable future, we are rebounding right back into a fairly typical summer pattern — fairly warm days certainly here in the Interior, probably north of 30 [C] most days, and no real significant rain in sight." Glen Burgess with the B.C. Wildfire Service explains the current wildfire situation near Peachland, B.C., on Sunday. (CBC) 35 properties remain under evacuation order Within the regional district of Okanagan-Similkameen, five properties remain on evacuation order and 92 properties remain under evacuation alert due to the Mount Eneas wildfire along Highway 97 north of Summerland and the Meadow Valley area northwest of Summerland. Within the district of Summerland, 30 properties remain on evacuation order in the northern portion of Garnet Valley due to the Mount Eneas wildfire. An additional 108 properties remain on evacuation alert within the district of Summerland. A special air quality statement is in effect for parts of B.C. 's Interior warning of poor air quality due to smoke.<doc-sep>Traffic was backed up for hours on Saturday along Highway 4 near Port Alberni, B.C., due to a small brush fire, which officials say was human caused. Traffic was at a standstill on Highway 4 outside of Port Alberni on Saturday July 21, 2018 after a small brush fire began. Officials believe it is human caused. (Ryan Deasley) The area is approximately 20 kilometres west of Port Alberni at Taylor Arm Provincial Park. After being completely closed for about an hour Saturday afternoon, the highway opened to single lane alternating traffic. Just before 8 p.m. PT, the roadway completely reopened, but with officials warning about smoke in the area. UPDATE - OPEN #BCHwy4 - 20 KM West of #PortAlberni is now fully open after earlier wildfire related activity in the area. Drive carefully and expect reduced visibility due to smoke in the area. #Tofino #Ucluelet #SproatLake —@DriveBC The Coastal Fire Centre on Vancouver Island says the fire is around 0.01 square kilometres in size and not aggressive. Still, officials believe the fire was human-caused. Open burning in the area is currently prohibited. There is also a campfire ban in effect.<doc-sep>
Send this page to someone via email The Mount Eneas wildfire continues to burn on Sunday, but it’s staying within established containment lines, according to officials. The wildfire burning between Summerland and Peachland is still estimated at 1,374 hectares, which is the same size since Friday night. WATCH: Update on B.C. wildfires 11:02 Update on B.C. wildfires Sunday Update on B.C. wildfires Sunday – Jul 22, 2018 “Although it continues to be classified as “out of control,” crews made good progress yesterday taking advantage of cooler temperatures and afternoon cloud cover,” the District of Summerland said in a Facebook post. Story continues below advertisement #MountEneas morning update: Within rural Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen: five properties on evacuation order, 92 properties under evacuation alert Within District of Summerland: 30 properties on evacuation order and 108 on alert #BCWildfire — Jules Knox (@Jules_Knox) July 22, 2018 Personnel, heavy equipment and aircraft will continue suppression efforts on Sunday. BC Hydro service remains cut off by the #MountEneas wildfire near Faulder and Meadow Valley (in RDOS Electoral Area F), affecting 244 customers. @BCHydro says residents without power should be prepared for outage to continue into early next week #BCWildfire WATCH: Global BC’s Chris Gailus reports from outside of Peachland 1:15 Crews in Okanagan optimistic about fire fight Crews in Okanagan optimistic about fire fight – Jul 22, 2018 On Sunday, crews decided to merge the Mt. Eneas fire with the Munro Creek wildfire. Story continues below advertisement “We had a piece of unburned fuel between two fires and the objective was to remove that fuel in a controlled circumstance at our timing when the weather was cooperating,” Glen Burgess of the B.C. Wildfire Service said Sunday. “By doing that, we can have an increased level of control.” WATCH: Hot and dry conditions spark deep concerns as crews battle out of control fires in the Okanagan 5:47 Hot and dry conditions spark deep concerns as crews battle out of control fires in the Okanagan Hot and dry conditions spark deep concerns as crews battle out of control fires in the Okanagan – Jul 21, 2018 Burgess said they wanted to get the controlled burn done Sunday before hotter weather arrives in the coming days. Burgess went on to say that while temperatures are expected to increase, wind conditions are expected to be stable. There are currently 107 wildfires burning throughout the province.