Oliver resident Elizabeth Jago took this photo of the Nk'Mip Creek wildfire, Thursday, July 22, 2021.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Elizabeth Jago
July 25, 2021 - 5:22 PM
The 6,800 hectare Nk'Mip Creek fire near Osoyoos continues to threaten structures nearly one week after it was sparked.
"Fire behaviour continues to be aggressive and challenging as conditions remain hot and dry," BC Wildfire said in its Sunday update.
Officials said a 10 person crew with heavy equipment worked overnight to protect structures in/near Shrike subdivision.
Today, that work continued in the north near Shrike and along Camp McKinney Road.
Also, patrols worked along Nk'Mip Rd area, looking for hot spots.
"Crews will be looking for burn off operation opportunities to reinforce existing guards and protect structures," BC Wildfire said.
"Division Z is continuing structure protection near the Anarchist Mountain community. Crews will also mop up and patrol around Spirit Ridge on the fire's southern perimeter."
While this fire remains a significant challenge today, there is was some good long-term news.
Some of B.C.'s fires tend to burn well into the winter, getting deep into trees and heavy vegetation but that's not the case with the Nk'Mip fire.
"Given the nature of the fuels here there's not a lot of deep organic layers on this fire, in a lot of the places that are burning, so isn't necessarily holding over that deep," Jane Parks, BC Wildfire's Nk'Mip Creek fire's incident commander said July 24.
"However, it is starting to burn into places with heavier timber so you know there's potential in places that have deep organic layers where things can holdover in these conditions, but a lot of the area of this fire has fairly shallow vegetation — with sage brush and grass — but definitely there's potential in areas with heavier fuel."
Evacuation Orders and Alerts have been issued for numerous properties by the Osoyoos Indian Band.
The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) has issued Evacuation Alerts and Orders for Electoral Area A, C and areas in the Town of Oliver. The RDOS has expanded the Evacuation Order for Electoral Area C. RDOS Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has declared a State of Local Emergency. For more information contact the RDOS at 250-492-0237 or visit their website.
The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) has issued an Evacuation Order for 122 properties and an Evacuation Alert for an additional 304 properties in the area of the Nk'Mip Creek wildfire. For more information, please visit their website. The RDKB has issued an Evacuation Order for Electoral Area E and West Boundary.
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