BC Wildfire crews did small controlled burns in the Hidden Creek area of the McDougall Creek Wildfire earlier this week.

Image Credit: Submitted/BC Wildfire Service

It may seem counterintuitive to have trained firefighters spending a lot of their time with handheld torches or dropping firebombs from the ski in the midst of out-of-control wildfires.

But planned ignitions are one of their greatest tools in actually containing and, eventually, eliminating things like the McDougall Creek wildfire in and around West Kelowna.

“It was very critical for us to conduct these planned ignition operations to secure these areas and prevent the fire from going into the Powers Creek drainage,” BC Wildfire Service fire information officer Sarah Hall told iNFOnews.ca today, Sept. 7.

That included burning off 350 hectares on the northwest and west side of Carrot Mountain, next to the Powers Creek Drainage yesterday.

Crews moved from the south to the north for the burn, including through a deep canyon that was inaccessible to heavy equipment. Fire retardant was dropped from aircraft then crews went into the canyon with pulaskis and shovels to remove anything flammable down to bare soil.

“This (burn) is going to help improve accessibility for crews to safely and effectively develop hose delivery systems, do fire suppression efforts with water delivery systems as well as to conduct small scale hand ignitions, if required, to clean up any fuel that was not ignited just to enforce the guard there,” Hall said.

The difficult terrain meant water bladders had to be placed in the forest and refilled by helicopters.

READ MORE: On emotional bus tours, residents return to West Kelowna to view the ashes

On Tuesday, crews burned in the Hidden Creek area and are now heading to the northwest flank of the fire to finish off a planned burn they started Aug. 28 and didn’t finish because weather conditions changed. That means continued smoky skies in the area.

“There’s been quite a bunch of pieces to fit with this puzzle in order to have a containment line or a guard there on the side of the fire permitter,” Hall said. “We’ve definitely had to think outside the box and there have been a lot of moving pieces but it’s been really great to have all of these different tactics used in order to have this guard on the east side of the Powers Creek drainage.”

The controlled burn above the Powers Creek Watershed on Sept. 6.

Image Credit: Submitted/BC Wildfire Service

With a high pressure weather system bringing sunny skies and temperatures in the mid- to-high 20s, there's still a chance of flareups in other areas of the 13,721 ha out-of-control fire.

The crews will now focus on mopping up those areas where the controlled fires were lit along with any other hot spots.

“Mopping up is not the most glorious work but it is arguably the most important work that we do, making sure these areas are completely cold to the touch and there’s no possible chance of ignition over the coming days,” Hall said.

There has yet to be any discussion of reclassifying the fire as “being held.”

“In order for the status to be changed, we’re looking at control lines surrounding the fire perimeter and we’re also looking at the wildfire not being likely to spread beyond predetermined boundaries,” Hall said.

Such a reclassification would not necessarily change the work BC Wildfires crews is doing but would be a big morale boost.

“If we were to change the status to held that would, one, be a huge testament to all the work that’s been done on this fire,” Hall said. “That would also be a celebration for us. It also communicates that the fire, under current conditions, would not likely spread over predetermined boundaries.”

Such a status change would also involve discussions with local governments and fire departments.

While burning the forest helps contain the fire, all this work does not create a fire guard right down to populated areas such as Glenrosa.

There aren't enough resources – or the time available to consult with neighbours and indigenous people – to take those controlled burns one step further and bring the burnt area closer to homes.

That will have to go through a long planning process. Such burns are usually done in the spring but are contingent on the forests not being too dry or too wet, and for the venting index to take the smoke away from populated areas.

READ MORE: B.C. residents can choose when they want their forests to burn

An estimated 405 properties are still under under evacuation order and 12,303 on evacuation alert.

Residents with damaged homes are being given windows to return to collect personal possessions is a phased manner this week but they are not allowed to visit other properties and are advised not to open fridges or freezers.

Anyone who missed their designated window to visit will not be allowed in until the evacuation orders are lifted, a news release from the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre says.

“This allows crews in wildfire affected areas to make headway, which will help bring residents home as soon as possible,” the news release reads.

Area restrictions around the fire are in place until, at least, noon tomorrow.

“Enforcement of the area restriction continues to be a challenge as members of the public are still being reported in the area, attempting to access properties by boat from Okanagan Lake and forestry roads,” the news release says. “RCMP and Conservation Officer staff are in place for the foreseeable future to continue checkpoint security and continue to enforce the area restriction order.”

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