Terrace Mountain fire forces 2,500 to flee

The view of the Terrace Mountain Fire on the east side of Okanagan Lake Saturday night. (Submitted by Kim Nasipayko)

The raging Terrace Mountain fire has flared up again, forcing 2,500 people in B.C.'s Okanagan out of their homes just days after many of them had returned from an earlier evacuation order.

The evacuation order is in effect in the following communities:

* Caesar’s Landing.
* Nahun.
* Shelter Cove.
* District lots off South Terrace Main.
* Wilson’s Landing.
* Trader’s Cove.
* Bear Creek Main to Kilometer 13 marker.
* Bear Creek Provincial Park.
* Fintry Provincial Park.
* Upper Fintry.
* Fintry Delta/Muirallen Estates.
* Valley of the Sun.
* La Casa resort.

The fire, near Fintry, showed increased activity Saturday afternoon, sparking an evacuation order for 1,200 people. That order was expanded to 2,500 later in the evening.

Strong winds are pushing the fire toward homes along Okanagan Lake, Fire officials said.

Suzanne Vonderporton, with B.C.'s wildfire management branch, said the wind speed picked up considerably and the wind direction also contributed to the fire's growth.

Officials estimate the fire grew a staggering 2,500 hectares overnight.

Thermal imaging mapping Saturday night indicated the wildfire has consumed 7,520 hectares of forest, but officials say some of that includes fuel that has been burned off during efforts to fight the fire.

The blaze had been considered about 90 per cent contained.

Fintry resident Bruce Freeborn ignored last week's evacuation order, but he told CBC News on Sunday he wouldn't ignore the order this time around.

"The fire has really picked up," he said. "[Saturday] night there was big mushroom clouds and everything and it was really travelling down towards the Fintry area and La Casa and I knew it was way more serious."
"The mushroom cloud that was coming off that fire was the scariest thing I ever seen and so that's why I left. … Otherwise, I would still have been there."

More than 237 firefighters along with 16 helicopters are battling the blaze. Fintry is located on the west side of Okanagan Lake, about 35 kilometres north of Kelowna.
Lillooet fire still not contained

An aerial view of the fire near Lillooet taken Saturday morning.An aerial view of the fire near Lillooet taken Saturday morning. (CBC)Elsewhere, nearly 3,000 residents near Lillooet remain on evacuation alert as an out-of-control wildfire burns just one kilometre away from the town.

An evacuation order is in place for properties on the northeast shore of Seton Lake, an area east of the Silicon Indian Reserve 2, and Puck Creek.

Another 2,800 people in Lillooet, Shalalth, Seton Portage and the First Nations community of T'it'qet were told to be ready to leave their homes at a moment's notice.

The Mount McLean fire, which began with a lightning strike more than a week ago, now covers more than 2,650 hectares.

Sixty firefighters and 15 helicopters spent much of Saturday trying to contain the blaze near the southwest Interior town, about 180 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, by establishing contingency lines.

Jerry Sucharyna, with the District of Lillooet, said residents are doing what they always do when times get tough — they're pulling together and providing support.

Officials say the fire stabilized overnight, but they expect a challenging day is in store for crews battling the blaze Sunday.

In all, more than 500 wildfires are burning across British Columbia, where conditions are extremely dry and temperatures have been in the high 30s.

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