Hundreds of residents of the interior B.C. were on evacuation alert over the weekend as two wildfires in the province grew after a week of dry conditions during a heat wave in Western Canada. The Keremeos Creek fire was first discovered on Friday about 23 kilometers south of Penticton in the Okanagan Valley. More than 300 properties were under evacuation alert as of Sunday afternoon and 25 households were under an evacuation order assisted by the RCMP. Meanwhile, a large fire continued to burn near Lytton, a town in BC. east of Vancouver that was almost completely destroyed by fire in 2021. Fortunately most of the fire activity was taking place away from the city. The BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) said the Keremeos fire had grown to more than four square kilometers in size after “aggressive and erratic fire behavior” on Saturday, aided by high temperatures in the area that reached 40 degrees in recent days. days. There was little growth Saturday night, but BCWS spokeswoman Melanie Bibeau said Sunday morning that conditions indicated the fire was intensifying as temperatures rose during the day. The era of the fires of BC got off to a slow start in the southern half of the province thanks to cold temperatures, wet weather and heavy snow in the late spring and early summer. However, Ms Bibeau said residents should be prepared now that persistent dry and hot conditions across the province have led to an increased fire risk. Forty members of the BCWS were battling the Keremeos Creek fire on Sunday and a helicopter was assisting ground crews. The agency said thick smoke prevented the use of three other helicopters and that the terrain was not currently suitable for an air carrier to fight the fire. Meanwhile, the blaze near Lytton, named the Nohomin Creek Fire, has been burning since July 14 and is now estimated to be more than 29 square kilometers in size. The fire threatened communities on the west side of the Fraser River, across from the main town of Lytton on the east bank. However, BCWS spokeswoman Karley Desrosiers said most of the activity was now taking place on the northwest edge of the fire, meaning it was moving away from the areas where people live toward the south and east edges of the fire. The Thompson Nicola Regional District and Lytton First Nation canceled evacuation orders for some properties, but still instructed residents near the fire to be prepared to evacuate if conditions change. About thirty other addresses in the Lytton area remained under evacuation orders. Eighty-nine firefighters and 11 helicopters were working to control the blaze on Sunday. Crews were working to extinguish the remaining hot spots on the east side of the fire. High temperatures are expected to persist across the Okanagan Valley, with highs or above 30 degrees forecast for most of next week in both Penticton and Lytton. Ms Desrosiers said those temperatures would at least be cooler than last week in Lytton, when highs of 40 degrees forced crews to take 15- or 20-minute breaks every hour to stay hydrated and avoid heat exhaustion. “When we get to 40 degrees, it becomes a health and safety concern,” said Ms Desrosiers, who said those temperatures were conducive to fire growth and created a difficult environment for firefighters to work in. Daniel Mundall, who lives in the Lytton area and had his store and barn burned in the Nohomin Creek fire last year, said people have been able to breathe a little easier as the fire moves north. “There’s always the potential for something to erupt and there’s still things smoldering here and there, but it’s certainly calmed down a bit here compared to what it was,” said Mr Mundall, who was already working to rebuild parts of his property. . that burned. “We’re going to start cleaning up here. we have an excavator. We’re not wasting time or waiting for help, it’s a matter of moving forward and making things happen.” Elsewhere, a large wildfire in northern Manitoba continued to burn, but the province’s fire service said favorable weather conditions were reducing the risk to a nearby First Nation. The Mathias Colomb Cree Nation has been evacuated for weeks because of its proximity to the fire, which is estimated to be more than 500 square kilometers. Another 42 fires were burning in the province, but the fire service said no other fires were a threat to communities. We have a weekly Western Canada newsletter written by our BC and Alberta bureau chiefs, providing a comprehensive package of the news you need to know about the region and its position on the issues facing Canada. Sign up today.