The unnamed town, with a population of more than 400, was placed under a full evacuation order Thursday afternoon, affecting about 200 properties, around 5 p.m. from the Okanagan-Similkameen Regional District. Half an hour later, residents from part of the village of Keremeos, BC, representing nearly 220 properties, were put on evacuation alert by municipal and regional authorities. “This afternoon, the approaching cold front brought much stronger winds than we’ve seen over the past couple of days, which increased the behavior of the fire,” said Mikhail Elsay, fire information officer with the BC Fire Service. “We felt we had to extend the evacuation orders just to protect the communities that are close enough to the fire.” The Keremeos Creek Fire burns out of control near BC Highway 3A on Tuesday. (Tom Popyk/CBC) The agency said on its website that downslope winds of more than 30 km/h overnight pushed the fire downhill along Highway 3A, toward Olalla in the south, despite crews working through the night to keep the fire contained. fire on the west side of the highway. The county, which has had to evacuate residents from a total of 547 properties so far this fire season, said drivers should expect Highway 3A to be closed Thursday afternoon. The 43 square kilometer Keremeos Creek fire remained stable for the last day. Fire crews tried to contain it by lighting a series of scheduled fires near Highway 3A during the week. pic.twitter.com/zSrhG07QtW —@EmergMgtRDOS There were 62 fires in the province as of Thursday afternoon, with most of the 156 that started last week extinguished. Most of them are in the Kamloops Fire Center area, which includes the Okanagan. Just over half of the province’s fires are believed to have been caused by lightning. BC Wildfire Service crews light controlled fires in an effort to prevent the Keremeos Creek Fire from growing 21 kilometers southwest of Penticton on Thursday. (BC Wildfire Service)
