By James Peters

Heat, strong winds reawaken monster Elephant Hill fire

Aug 30, 2017 | 10:20 AM

KAMLOOPS — Nights are getting longer, but record-setting temperatures and strong wind mean there is no rest for firefighters trying to snuff out the Elephant Hill wildfire northwest of Kamloops.

The blaze is listed at 175,230 hectares as of Wednesday morning, with hundreds of personnel still trying to get a handle on the massive blaze.

Fire Information Officer Claire Allen says the dry heat and unexpectedly high winds last night led to some aggressive fire activity.

“Yesterday we were expecting a bit of wind, certainly. But what we ended up getting was much stronger than any of the forecasts predicted,” said Allen. “That did challenge some containment lines along the north flank, and we did see a marked increase in fire behaviour within the containment lines along the north flank as well as the southeast flank to the south and southwest of Hihium Lake.”

Winds gusted from the southwest overnight, causing the fire to flare up in several areas.

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“Predominantly 15 to 25 km/h, gusting up to 35 to 40 km/h in some areas,” said Allen. “So that’s certainly not something we see every day, especially given the fact that it was sustained throughout the evening period and kept those relative humidities, which normally increase throughout the evening, very low, as well as warm temperatures overnight.”

Hot spot mapping showed plenty of activity in the Hihium Lake area, but Allen says that is not pushing the fire’s boundary outward.

“Most of (the activity was) within containment lines there, and we engaged with structural protection specialists and they were active in the area of Hihium Lake, as well as Hutchison Lake to the northwest and Young Lake to the northeast of the fires yesterday, and assessing all of the properties to the north of the fire where we’re seeing some more active behaviour that could challenge containment lines,” said Allen.

The Cariboo Regional District ordered a tactical evacuation of some residences in the area of Little Green Lake last night, and an official order is expected some time Wednesday.

Some rain that fell on the fire last Thursday gave crews a chance to work ahead of the blaze, but Allen says the positive effects of that rain are long gone.

“Zero precipitation received since last week, and looking ahead to the outlook, it’s not looking like there’s any rain coming. In terms of the temperatures we’ve been seeing, I know that we’ve been, through all of the affected communities along this fire, just smashing records.”