Image of the Sparks Lake wildfire coming towards Skeetchestn Indian Band land (Image Credit: Julie Bohnet / Facebook)

By Chad Klassen

SPARKS LAKE WILDFIRE

Sparks Lake wildfire threatening Skeetchestn, no structures lost on band land

Jul 5, 2021 | 4:06 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Sparks Lake wildfire north of Kamloops Lake is now up to just over 39 thousand hectares, and still out of control. An area restriction order remains in effect. 130 firefighters have been attacking the blaze with the assistance of 14 helicopters and 33 pieces of heavy equipment.

The Durand Lake wildfire southwest of Kamloops is at 260 hectares. It is still listed as out of control. The McKay Creek fire, the largest of 3 in the Lytton area, is over 26,000 hectares. Crews worked along the West Pavilion Road to extinguish hot spots, and east of the Fraser River, a guard has been completed around the community of Pavilion. An area restriction is in place in the McKay Creek and surrounding area.

Many other fires are burning in the area, but they are, for the most part, small and under control.

EARLIER — Unpredictable winds have pushed the Sparks Lake wildfire, burning northwest of Kamloops, towards the Skeetchestn Indian Band. The province’s largest fire, Sparks Lake experienced some growth over the weekend and is now at 36,300 hectares.

The fire threatened homes on Skeetchestn land, but according to the band, no structures have been lost to the blaze. To date, there have been multiple homes lost as a result of the Sparks Lake wildfire.

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The BC Wildfire Service says its focus right now is on the southwest flank of the fire — on Skeetchestn band land.

“We do have some fire guard that is being put in there,” said fire information officer Marg Drysdale. “Also, on the southeast portion of the fire, we’re definitely building guard on the lake system through there. It is a fire where the wind has mostly driven it from the north down to the south. We’re also dealing with some very unusual winds in the Deadman Valley.”

The BC Wildfire Service has been working with Skeetchestn on fire response in the area. However, it says the unpredictability of the wind, along with extremely dry conditions, makes this particular fire more dangerous.

“This is a very active situation,” said Drysdale. “Regardless of the fact we have crews on the ground, this is a situation where conditions are unusual. We’re probably three weeks ahead of where we would normally be in a fire season. We are dealing with some winds on the ground. They did slacken a bit today, which is great news for our people on the ground. But this is an ongoing situation. We are still in a life-and-property mode at this moment, but we are getting good results with our people on the ground building guards.”

Currently, there are evacuation orders for 164 properties on the Sparks Lake wildfire, while nearly a thousand homes are on alert.