UPDATE: 5:55 p.m The Keremeos Creek fire has flared up again. It is now estimated at 4,250 hectares in size. This is a big increase from the last update, when it was at 2,750 hectares. The BC Wildfire Service says the change in size is due to both natural fire and planned ignitions. BCWS adds that a change in the shape of the fire perimeter is because the previous perimeter map included an area that was not visible for mapping due to smoke being included in the estimated perimeter. Aerial flares were conducted in the Yellow Lake/Sheep Creek area today and supported by ground crews. The target area was approximately 200 hectares in size.
Crews were also reinforcing containment lines along Highway 3A. As crews develop solid containment lines and when structures are no longer considered at risk, structural protection will slowly decrease. Photo: BCWS New perimeter map for the Keremeos Creek fire as of August 3, 2022. UPDATE: 14:45 The BC Wildfire Service is planning a planned burn of about 200 hectares in the Yellow Lake and Sheep Creek area around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, taking advantage of mild winds and slightly cooler temperatures to tackle the out-of-control Keremeos Creek wildfire. It will be very visible in the area and the highway may be slow for a while as they deal with debris near Yellow Lake. It may be shut down or delayed intermittently for short periods of time. “Rolling debris can be anything from rocks, trees, anything that has come loose from a slope, due to activity along the hillside,” BCWS information officer Marg Drysdale said in a briefing Wednesday. “If you have steep slopes, that’s often a phenomenon and our crews deal with it a lot, just because for them it can be a safety issue if they’re down. And they’re taught to be very careful and not be in a area where there’s debris that might fall on them, but obviously they’ve put some debris in the road and they’re going to deal with it.” Drysdale said they are lucky to have so much support in the field. “Today we have 252 firefighters [on the wildfire,]” said Drysdale, a combination of BCWS firefighters and fire departments across the interior. “We have 10 helicopters on site and four pieces of heavy equipment. There will be additional heavy equipment in the coming days.” The size of the fire is still listed at 2,790 hectares and according to Drysdale, it may not be updated until about 24 hours from now due to the smoky areas of the fire making mapping difficult. Crews are looking at a four- to five-day window of good firefighting conditions before the high heat is expected to return. Drysdale says they are capitalizing on that window. “That’s one of the reasons we have so many resources on this fire now. They can do a really good job in a short amount of time and move things along very quickly,” Drysdale said. In the Okanagan Similkameen regional district, 324 properties are under evacuation and 479 are under evacuation alert. Residents are eager to get back into their vacated properties, and Drysdale said BCWS understands and is doing what it can. “We understand how stressful it is for people to be out of their homes. We take that very seriously. We are lifting orders and warnings as soon as we are able to do so,” Drysdale explained. BCWS and RDOS work closely with Chief Greg Gabriel with the Penticton Indian Band, among other Band members and the Lower and Upper Similkameen Bands. “It’s that relationship between the First Nations community and the emergency services that just helps when these kinds of issues come up,” Gabriel said. “[It] it helps that it makes it easier in some ways that you can attack these incidents in different ways.” BCWS is unable to predict the likely longevity of the fire. “But what I can say is that with the number of resources and the conditions we have right now, we’re making amazing progress and we expect to make a lot of progress in the coming days,” Drysdale said. Gabriel echoed the sentiment and added gratitude to everyone working on the fire. “I just want to make sure that everyone really recognizes everyone involved in protecting our community, especially those firefighters that are out there on the ground right now,” Gabriel said. For more information on evacuation notices and orders, and to access an interactive map where you can enter your address to find out if the fire is affecting you, click here. For the latest road closures and alerts, check DriveBC.ca. Photo: BCWS Yellow Lake, August 3 UPDATE: 2 p.m The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen Emergency Operations Center is providing a fire update at 2 p.m. Watch live above. Photo: BCWS Fire from Keremeos Creek. UPDATE: 11 a.m More evacuation notices have been added regarding the Keremeos Creek fire. A total of 41 properties, most in the Grand Oro Road area in Constituency G and I as well as two more properties along Highway 3A have been added to the notice. Total properties under evacuation order: 324 Total properties under evacuation alert: 479 RDOS Emergency Support Services has recorded 157 residents. Fifty-five are accommodated in local hotel rooms and another 10 are housed in local homes. ESS says that a group accommodation has been set up but is not currently being used. A welcome center for evacuees is available at Princess Margaret Secondary School, 120 Green Ave in Penticton. This Reception Center will be open today from 9am to 5pm. For a complete list of affected properties and updates on evacuation notices and orders, click here. ORIGINAL: 9:40am The BC Wildfire Service is still attacking the Keremeos Creek fire, which as of Wednesday morning is still estimated at 2,790 hectares. Still listed as out of control. The fire is located near Highway 3A in Yellow Lake, so while it was closed Tuesday, crews did small scheduled flares. A control line is being advanced along the highway that will limit development and allow crews to gain safe access and establish containment lines. More planned flares are in the works on the east side of the fire over the next 24 hours. More than 320 properties in the fire area, including Apex Mountain Resort, remain under evacuation orders and hundreds more are on watch. Find a full list of orders and notices here and evacuee information here. Resources that attack this fire now are:

137 firefighters 10 helicopters Four heavy equipment 137 wildland firefighters have been assigned to this fire and are working with an additional 115 structural protection personnel from fire departments across BC. for a total crew of 252 firefighters.

Structure protection will be established where and as needed as crews proceed with scheduled flares along Highway 3A.

Additional crews are establishing control lines from Green Mountain Road working west and preparing Cedar Creek Road for potential burn operations.