Fire numbers fall in B.C. as blaze near Golden destroys homes, spurs evacuation

Three employees at Canadian Timberframes near Golden, B.C., had no warning when a nearby wildfire jumped the Columbia River and “barrelled through” nearby homes, the company’s co-owner said.

“The fire was out of control. The winds changed. It came so fast,” Stephanie Bowes said in an interview on Thursday.

“We weren’t even in part of the evacuation order,” she noted, although the order did come shortly after as the employees were helping to fight the fire.

The Town of Golden, B.C., confirmed Thursday afternoon about six homes were lost in the fire burning south of the community, but said “assessments are still underway to determine the extent of the damage.”

It said in an earlier social media post that the blaze, known as the Dogtooth Forest Service Road fire, had spread north, but rain and a northern wind were expected to help the fire fight.

The BC Wildfire Service said that a trend of cooler weather across much of the province had also resulted in a dip in the number of fires burning and allowed crews an opportunity to make progress on some of the approximately 420 active blazes.

It’s the first time fire numbers have dropped in weeks.

However, the service said the fires of note — those that pose a threat to people or property or are highly visible — had increased to five, with the addition of the Dogtooth fire.

The BC Wildfire Service said Thursday afternoon that the blaze had grown from 1.33 square kilometres in size to 54.5 square kilometres, although the town said most of that growth happened on Wednesday.

“No injuries or loss of life have been reported for residents or incident responders,” the town said.

Bowes said she and her husband, with whom she owns the timber-framed homes business, were at their cottage in Anglemont, B.C., about 300 kilometres away, when their workers said the blaze had “engulfed” trees around the work site on Wednesday.

Her husband immediately rushed back.

She said the business remained intact thanks to its cement retaining walls and the “tireless” work of wildfire crews.

“The fire is still out of control, but it seems to be in control around our property. There’s just smouldering fires that they’re continuously putting out throughout the property,” she said, noting light rains and wind had brought some reprieve Thursday.

“I’m just so very thankful and grateful that we have been able to come out of this where a lot of houses and homes and properties have not and my heart goes out to everybody.”

The Town of Golden’s website said authorities were focused on “saving as many structures as possible” from the Dogtooth fire, which prompted evacuation orders on Wednesday for properties along the Columbia River as it runs beside Highway 95.

In an update Thursday afternoon, the town said the evacuation order for the properties on the east side of the highway was rescinded and replaced with an alert. More than 1,000 properties remained on alert, while 28 properties on the west side of the river remained on evacuation order.

The update also said Highway 95 had reopened, but access to the areas under evacuation order would be restricted.

Despite the improved weather, about 230 fires continue to burn out of control in the province, including a cluster in southeastern B.C., a region that has seen thousands of lightning strikes in a series of thunderstorms. The service said that region continues to be warm and dry.

In central and northern B.C., the wildfire service said rain and a break from warmer-than-usual weather are providing a much-needed respite.

The service said that in the past week at least 263 fires had been declared out, and at least 124 brought under control.

The cooler weather brought highs in the low to mid-20s in areas including Kamloops, Kelowna and Lytton, where temperatures surpassed 40 C just days ago.

Temperatures in the northern Interior, including Prince George and Williams Lake, did not get above the mid-teens.

B.C. firefighters had been battling a spike in wildfires since the weekend, when dry weather and a heat wave were followed by tens of thousands of lightning strikes. There were fewer than 100 fires burning on July 8.

Among the most severe wildfires in the province is the 225-square-kilometre Shetland Creek blaze near Spences Bridge, which has destroyed about 20 structures in the Venables Valley, including at least six homes.

But the Village of Ashcroft said in a notice that it had rescinded its evacuation alert for all properties in the area.

Another fire of note is the four-square-kilometre Aylwin Creek blaze south of Silverton in the Central Kootenay region, which has triggered an evacuation order for the entire village along with 17 nearby properties.

A few kilometres to the north, a further 16 properties have been ordered evacuated outside the community of New Denver due to the Wilson Creek wildfire.

The Regional District of Central Kootenay has also upgraded an evacuation alert to an order for the Argenta and Johnsons Landing areas due to the Argenta Creek blaze. The order spans 191 properties on the northeast shore of Kootenay Lake.

On Vancouver Island, the Old Man Lake wildfire burns out of control about nine kilometres north of Sooke.

That fire, at about 1.7 square kilometres in size, has seen some growth, but the spread has been “away from any structures or critical infrastructure,” Julia Caranci with the Coastal Fire Centre said on an updated post on YouTube.

The Capital Regional District says the fire is burning a few kilometres south of the Sooke Lake Reservoir, which is part of the water supply for about 350,000 people in Greater Victoria.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2024.

Brieanna Charlebois and Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press