UPDATE 6:20 p.m. The Regional DIstrict of Okanagan Similkameen has issued evacuation alerts for the community of Eastgate due to the Heather Lake wildfire burning in Manning Park. One-hundred-eighty properties are impacted by the alert, listed here. Residents are being told to pack their bags and be ready to evacuate on a moment’s notice. The wildfire is straddling the U.S.-Canada border and is burning about five kilometers southeast of the Manning Park Resort, two kilometers south of Highway 3 and 10 kilometers southwest of Eastgate. It has burned 1,900 hectares of Canadian forest. Burning within a park protected from commercial logging and ravaged by the mountain pine beetle, fire officials say the blaze is consuming “a heavy fuel and has the potential for aggressive and rapid growth if winds, and terrain align.” “While no values or Highway 3 are immediately at risk, the BC Wildfire Service has liaised with BC Parks and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to prepare for the possibility of the Heather Lake Fire impacting Highway 3, or trails and campsites within E.C. Manning Park,” BCWS said online. There are also active evacuation order and alert areas within Manning Park. The resort is currently on alert while multiple popular trails are closed. Structural protection crews are on site installing sprinklers on assets. UPDATE: 10:50 a.m. BC Wildfire Service information officer Paula Walbauer said activity at the Heather Lake wildfire was much the same overnight Monday through Tuesday. “We have quite a bit of low level smoke right now … we had some cold air push down to the smoke,” Walbauer said. “We did have another small start that we were able to action later yesterday afternoon, but we were able to action that and so nothing really else changed from overnight.” They are anticipating warmer and drier weather in the coming days, and potentially some wind later in the week, but the wind outlook Tuesday is not a concern. Much of the incident team’s plan at the moment is monitoring the situation at higher elevations and letting areas burn naturally where it is safe, as well as watching for other small starts to action. “We are monitoring it closely right now and I think with the drier weather, we’re anticipating that there could be more holdover fires from that lightning strike.” ORIGINAL: 10:15 a.m. BC Wildfire Service is continuing to respond to the Heather Lake wildfire in E.C. Manning Park. The lightning-caused fire was discovered Sunday, quickly growing to an estimated 1,900 hectares as of Monday. It is very visible from Highway 3, burning in “heavy fuel.” It is burning two kilometres south of Highway 3, five kilometres southeast of Manning Park Resort and 10 kilometres southwest of Eastgate. Portions of it are burning across the border in the United States. Manning Park Resort is not currently threatened, though out of caution, the resort and front country campgrounds have been put under evacuation alert. Hiking trails east of the resort are closed, including the Monument 78 and 83 trails, the Pacific Crest trail, the East and West Similkameen trails, the Windy Joe trail and the Frosty Mountain trail from the PCT to the Frosty Mountain junction, as well as Monument 78 and the PCT backcountry campgrounds and the Windy Joe lookout. Since the fire was naturally-caused by lightning, BC Wildfire Service is treating it as part of the forest’s natural life cycle, as long as it is not threatening structures. “Allowing these fires to burn promotes a healthy and resilient ecosystem and has long term benefits for plants and wildlife,” BCWS explains. Structure protection personnel are on scene. In total, 22 firefighters, three helicopters and one piece of heavy equipment are on scene, as of an update provided Monday. Castanet has reached out to BCWS for the latest as of Tuesday morning, and will update this story. Photo: BCWS
