A fire that started near a gas station in North Okanagan, B.C., triggered evacuation orders for 15 properties on Friday night. The District of Coldstream issued the evacuation order for the Lavington area late on Friday, along with an evacuation alert for several other properties. An evacuation order requires immediate departure, while an evacuation alert advises residents to be ready to leave at short notice.
The Regional District of North Okanagan advised residents to steer clear of the Noble Canyon and Becker Lake areas due to the fire, which had spread across 66 hectares by Saturday morning. Taylor Stewart Shantz, a fire information officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service, mentioned that the fire had spread rapidly through dry fuels on the land base.
On Saturday, Stewart Shantz reported that the fire activity had decreased after helicopters doused the flames with water overnight. Firefighters are utilizing multiple aircraft to contain the fire, urging boaters to avoid nearby lakes for refueling operations. The weather forecast for the weekend offered hope for improved conditions in the Lavington area, with a possibility of precipitation on Sunday.
In a separate incident, multiple fires in the Chilcotin area near Anahim Lake led to the evacuation of hundreds of residents in central B.C. The Beef Trail Creek wildfire covered an area of 102 square kilometers northwest of Anahim Lake, while the Dusty Lake wildfire affected an area of 58 square kilometers southeast of the community. Fire information officer Mikhail Elsay noted that the smoke layer over the fires had lowered temperatures and fire activity on Saturday, with limited winds as a result.
Elsay mentioned that while the cooler weather system could reduce fire behavior, it might also bring unsettled conditions to the region. Efforts are ongoing to establish perimeters around the fires to allow residents to return home safely. The suspected cause of the fire was human activity near the Lavington Canco gas station, one of the numerous wildfires burning across the province on Saturday morning.