Image Credit: FACEBOOK
August 06, 2022 - 7:30 AM
All hands are on deck to protect Apex Mountain Resort from the Keremeos Creek wildfire.
James Shalman, general manger of the resort, is seeing firetrucks from all over the province.
“It feels fantastic to see all these professionals who do this for a living – I’m very grateful for all the work and energy they’re putting in here,” Shalman said.
On the Apex Mountain Resort Official Facebook Group, Shalman posted a video of what the B.C. Wildfire Service says is the most extensive sprinkler system ever deployed, while teaming up with crews from the Apex Fire Brigade. The video show several pools full of water connected to a large network of hoses, and massive amounts of water covering huge swaths of the resort.
Shalman said the resort is fortunate to have snowmaking machines from the top to bottom of the hill, and in position to protect infrastructure and buildings.
“We’ll be blowing a huge amount of water out of these guns,” he said.
The water is raising the nearby humidity level and coating the surrounding area with a thick layer of moisture.
READ MORE: More crews assigned to South Okanagan wildfire amid 'good firefighting weather'
The number of firefighters has grown every day throughout the week. There were 393 firefighters on the job as of Aug. 5
The estimated size of the wildfire's perimeter grew from 4,250 hectares on Aug. 3 to to 5,903 on Aug. 5.
Fire information officer Mikhail Elsay said numerous fire departments are applying a full effort towards protecting the resort community. He said the wildfire is about five kilometres from Apex as of 4 p.m. today, Aug. 5.
Further down Highway 3A, the fire is just 1.2 km from the little community of Olalla, however it is far up a slope.
“The fire’s not on the ground next to (Olalla), it’s way up on the hill,” Elsay said.
One Apex webcam shows cows grazing and a smoky Keremeos Creek wildfire from the top of the mountain.
Image Credit: Apex Mountain Resort
To contact a reporter for this story, email Dan Walton or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2022