Barnhartvale brush fire could burn for days

KEITH ANDERSON/ THE DAILY NEWS

Helicopters work in the smoke dropping water into hot spots on the Barnhartvale grass fire today (Wednesday).

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A discarded cigarette, sparks from a hydro pole and a random lightning strike are among the possible causes of a 53-hectare brushfire that continues to burn in Barnhartvale, a fire investigator said today (Wednesday).

The blaze erupted beneath a hydro pole near the Barnhartvale Baptist Church at about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Fire Insp. Dan Funk returned to the spot once the smoke cleared this morning. By then the fire had grown to 53 hectares and burned west toward Juniper Ridge.

Funk said the fire, which was 85 per cent contained this evening, started burning near the pump house by the church. He found smoke material, drug paraphernalia and glass bottles in the immediate area.

He said he will check with BC Hydro to make sure crews had not recently completed work in the area.

He also isn't willing to rule out lightning until he can look at map of strikes from a storm that moved through the region Tuesday night.

“It's just possible,” said Funk.

The smoke and flames forced 75 residents out of their mobile homes at the River View Campsite and RV Park at 1 a.m. today. Those people were back by 9:30 a.m.

The River View residents, along with at least 100 people in east Juniper Ridge, remained on evacuation alert late today, said Sheldon Guertin, Fire and Rescue's life safety education.

He said the fire would not be 100 per cent contained until crews could dig hand guards into a number of gullies between Barnhartvale and Juniper.

That won't happen until burned trees left standing by the flames are brought down, making the area safe for firefighters, That process was underway Wednesday afternoon, said Guertin.

Towers of wind-driven flames tore through the grass and trees below Uplands Court in Barnhartvale. In some areas the fire burned to within 10 metres of homes. Residents used garden hoses to fight back the flames.

Mary Karpes watched with her granddaughter, Avery Smith, 10, while her husband and their neighbours soaked the ground. She said she felt eerily calm while she watched the fire burn away from their home.

“The whole hill was burning embers,” she told the media during a tour this afternoon.

Neighbour Mark Pennell said the blaze brought back frightening memories of two fires that threatened homes in the area last summer.

“It was déjà vu from last year,” he said of the inferno that burned into a gully near his home. “It was scary.”

But he's pleased by how the people banded together with hoses to fight off the flames until firefighters arrived.
Pennell also credits the wind for moving the fire away from his neighbourhood.

Resident Rhonda Palmer spent the night with family in Kamloops. She returned to Uplands Wednesday afternoon to pack up her dogs, some clothes and other valuables.

She said she isn't willing to live in her home while the threat of a fire remained.

Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Kevin Krueger was among residents whose houses were under evacuation alert.
He learned of the fire during a cabinet meeting in Vancouver from Forest Minister Pat Bell, who had been to his home in past. No one was home at the time.

“He sent me an aerial picture on his Blackberry,” Krueger said.

“I was getting reports all day, which I always do when there's something in my area.”

Krueger said Bell told him among the reasons for the success achieved by firefighters in controlling the blaze was clearing work under a provincially funded program conducted by the City of Kamloops.

“All these actions and efforts came together and we didn't lose a single building.”

Air tankers took to the skies at sunrise and put down a retardant guard between the flames and east Juniper.

Fire information officer Michaela Swan said the fire burned within itself and became more active in the heat of the afternoon.

She said crews were concerned about rising temperatures and the possibility of a lightning storm moving into the area tonight.

jhewlett@kamloopsnews.ca


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EARLIER STORY: As efforts to clean up the Barnhartvale brushfire continue today, and residents look forward to returning to normal, fire officials are investigating the point of origin and cause of the fire.

So far, there is no word on how the fire started, although there was lightning activity in some parts of Kamloops Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, stories are beginning to emerge about early efforts to contain the blaze that threatened a number of homes. The Daily News has learned that residents of Uplands Court banded together with garden hoses to keep the fire at bay until help arrived.

Daily News reporter Jason Hewlett and photographer Keith Anderson are touring the fire zone with officials and will report in shortly.

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EARLIER STORY:
A 50-hectare wildfire that burned from Todd Road in Barnhartvale west toward Juniper Ridge is well enough in hand that an evacuation order for the River View Campsite and RV Park has been rescinded.

Mayor Peter Milobar told a press conference this morning (Wednesday) that all 75 residents of the mobile home park were allowed to go home as of 9:30 a.m. As of 11:30 a.m., the evacuees were slowly returning, but they and others in the area remain on alert.

One resident, Cheryl Friars, told The Daily News she intends to stay in town with friends until the all-clear is given.

Milobar said a combined team of City and forest service firefighters continue to battle the blaze, which is 80 per cent contained. The mobile home park and more than 100 other residents remain on evacuation alert.

Fire and Rescue spokesman Sheldon Guertin said the blaze was reported at about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday. It burned just off Todd Road in Barnhartvale and was about one hectare in size.

The fire quickly spread west and was recorded at 50 hectares by this morning (Wednesday).

All evacuees were sent to an Emergency Social Services Centre set up at the Heritage House in Riverside Park.

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EARLIER STORY: A wildfire that forced the evacuation of the River View Campsite and RV Park and put more than 100 other residents on alert was 80 per cent contained as of 8:30 a.m. today (Wednesday).

Fire and Rescue spokesman Sheldon Guertin said the blaze was reported at about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday. It burned just off Todd Road in Barnhartvale and was about one hectare in size.

The fire quickly spread west and was recorded at 50 hectares by Wednesday morning, when a combine crew of City and forestry firefighters fought to stop the fire's progress.

All 75 mobile home park residents were sent to an Emergency Social Services Centre set up at the Heritage House in Riverside Park. Residents in the east end of Juniper Ridge are still on evacuation alert.

The evacuation alert has been issued for the following areas:

Kicking Horse Drive
Kicking Horse Way
Cheakamus Drive
Cheakamus Place
Similkameen Place
Birkenhead Drive
Birkenhead Place

Residents can contact the City of Kamloops Emergency Operations Centre Public Information Line at (250) 828-3441.

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