Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today

By Dylana Kneeshaw

WILDFIRE UPDATE

VIDEO: Kamloops civic officials urging caution after surge of wildfire activity in local area

Jul 2, 2021 | 1:12 AM

KAMLOOPS — A wall of flames that crept over the hills in the Juniper Ridge and Valleyview areas Thursday evening tapered off nearly as quickly as it arrived.

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Kamloops city councillor and deputy mayor Arjun Singh says the inital sight of flames drew a moment of panic.

“I saw that from a distance and I was like, oh my goodness that is a big wall of fire. and luckily they (firefighters) were on it right away as they always are.”

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Firefighters were called to the Juniper Ridge area off Nechako Drive just after 9 p.m for a fire that had ignited on the hillside, before rapidly spreading into the nearby Valleyview hillside.

Residents in the Valleyview, and Juniper Ridge neighbourhoods were told to evacuate, before being given the all clear to return home. However as of 12:30 a.m, Friday July 2, CFJC sources say some residents are being told to leave the area.

According to the city website, residents in Juniper are still asked to evacuate. The city states that a tactical evacuation is underway for all properties on Capilano Drive and Nechako Drive, east of Qu’Appelle Boulevard.

For information on the evacuation, residents can call 250-828-3461.

Separate fires east of Sun Rivers and in the Strawberry Hill area also emerged, with firefighting crews responding in force. The city says BC Wildfire Service and Kamloops Fire Rescue personnel will be on these sites, along with Juniper Ridge and Valleyview areas overnight.

Heading into the weekend, the city asks residents to avoid any activities that could spark flames, and to prepare as best they can for unpredictable wildfire situations.

“I think climate change has made this such an unpredictable and fast moving situation,” notes Singh, “I’ve never seen or heard of a fire moving as fast as in Lytton or even in Juniper here – I’ve never seen that before.”

In light of recent wildfire activity, Singh notes his household has an evacuation kit put together. He says the rest of the summer will require careful behaviour from everyone to keep wildfires to a minimum.

“We’ve got staff in the city now who are going to be working flat out, we have emergency folks working flat out. those are precious resources and we can’t over use them,” he stresses, “As you can see, lightning is happening all around us still. So it’s going to be a very, very touch and go little while here.”

WATCH: CFJC news live at 11 p.m, Thursday July 1