Bear Creek Fire News Release 7

While there has been progress made on fighting the 1.8-hectare Bear Creek Fire, the Evacuation Alert remains in effect.  This means those residents living in the area north of Bear Creek Road and Parkinson Road are still on Evacuation Alert and should be prepared to leave on short notice should conditions and fire behaviour change.

Approximately 54 of those properties have dwellings or other structures.

The Evacuation Alert remains in place for residents living on properties from the intersection of Parkinson Road, north along Bear Creek Road, including Rose Valley Road, Petterson Road, Dougmac Road and Bear Creek Main.  These people should be prepared to be away from their home for an extended period of time, make arrangements for pets and pack essential items such as medicines, important documents and clothing.

The BC Wildfire Service says the fire is still active and is 75% contained.  There will be multiple air and ground resources deployed to fighting this fire today including a 20 person unit crew from Merritt and a helicopter will be bucketing.

Boaters on Okanagan Lake in the area adjacent to Bear Creek Provincial Park should stay clear and leave plenty of room for the aerial fire fighting activity.

Later today or early this evening it’s anticipated that the BC Wildfire Service will assess the fire situation to determine any possible change in the status of the Evacuation Alert.  The next update is expected after 7:00 pm.

RCMP advise that all previous roadblocks have been removed and are no longer in place.

Go to cordemergency.ca for the most current confirmed information.

Emergency Operations Centre staff are working with other response agencies to manage the situation and minimize the impacts, however residents of the area should be prepared to obey an evacuation order.