Tweet
Fire near Kelowna, B.C., claims five historic railway trestles
KELOWNA, B.C. (CP) - The resurgent Okanagan Mountain Park wildfire near here has claimed five historic railway trestle bridges and threatens the other 13, officials said Thursday.
The fire, which forced 3,200 people to flee their homes, some the second time, consumed five bridges on the 90-year-old Kettle Valley Railway line running through Myra Canyon, an internationally popular hiking and cycling route. Two of the other trestles along the 15-kilometre section of line southeast of Kelowna were also damaged, including one steel-framed trestle that lost its deck. Most of the bridges are made of creosote-soaked timber while two are steel with wooden decks.
Emergency officials also issued an evacuation alert to another 9,600 Kelowna-area residents, bringing to 15,100 the number of people in the area now on short notice to leave.
The alerts cover neighbourhoods on the southern and eastern fringes of Kelowna, a city of 100,000 people.
Late Thursday, B.C. Forest Service spokesman Jeff Moore said the remaining trestles, made of highly flammable creosote-soaked timber, are a major concern if the winds pick up Friday because "it's almost like adding gasoline onto the timbers.
"People are distraught," he said of the five historic Kettle Valley Railway trestles gobbled up by flames.
"It represents a loss of heritage, a loss of recreational activities, very significant ones," Moore said of the railway that was built in the early 1900s and has been out of service since the 60s.
Residents of the area's Black Mountain irrigation district were also advised to boil their drinking water after chlorine cylinders were removed from the local water-treatment plant due to the fire threat.
Fire crews were taking every precaution to protect homes once again in the path of the fire, said Karen Cairns of the Kelowna emergency operations centre.
"They're applying what they call a barricade gel to those homes and once again we're at the mercy of the wind," she said.
Driven by rising winds, the 2½-week-old fire grew by 17 square kilometres overnight to a total of 228 square kilometres and forecasts called for winds of up to 35 kilometres an hour.
"We're kind of fearing the worst," Kelowna Mayor Walter Gray said. "The fire probably will head east, which of course may take out more of the Kettle Valley historic railway."
The railway line, which took six years to complete after construction started in 1910, spanned some of the most challenging mountainous terrain in British Columbia. Canadian Pacific Railway closed it in the 1960s but volunteers restored the 18 decaying, trackless trestles in the 1990s. They installed guardrails and laid planking on the ties to make them safe for hikers and cyclists. The line now attracts thousands of visitors a year and is a major source of tourism revenue for the nearby town of Naramata.
In a small-scale replay of what happened about two weeks ago, residents of threatened Kelowna suburbs were ordered out on short notice Wednesday night.
B.C. Forest Service spokesman Kirk Hughes said the June Springs, Joe Rich and Gallagher's Canyon areas north and east of the fire were most affected. The fire was still several kilometres from any homes and its progress appeared to slow during the evening as it moved southeast.
Fire crews were also mopping up hot spots in the Crawford Estates area, one of the suburbs where more than 230 homes were destroyed earlier this month. Fire information officer Kevin Matuga said the fire's behaviour Wednesday was very similar to conditions that forced 30,000 to flee Aug. 21-22. "It's just extreme fire behaviour, with the kind of conditions we have, the dryness of the fuels," he told BCTV News. "Once again we're just getting those afternoon winds and with these conditions we're just seeing some very volatile fire behaviour."
Matuga said it will be hard to save the remaining Kettle Valley Railway trestles if the fire continues to act so aggressively.
For some, it was the second evacuation in just over two weeks.
Kyle Grant's family was ordered out Aug. 21 and lived at a hotel for a week before being allowed back home. On Wednesday night, the Grants found themselves back in the same hotel room.
"The stress level has been pretty high," Grant said. "My mom was very, very upset. My father is desperately trying to get back to Kelowna from Edmonton." Some 1,300 evacuees checked in at a recreation centre in Kelowna and will be put up in hotels if necessary, while others were staying with friends and relatives.
Officials also issued an evacuation order late Wednesday night to residents in the McGillivray Lake area east of Kamloops after high winds and dry conditions caused a blaze to jump fireguards.
An evacuation alert was also issued for the resort village of Sun Peaks and surrounding properties because of the McGillivray fire, which forced residents of the town of Pritchard to flee earlier this month.
The 96-square-kilometre McGillivray fire remains a concern, Matuga said. "We need to re-establish those control lines in anticipation of the winds that are forecasted for this area," he said.
Winds also threaten to derail the progress crews have made on the month-old McLure-Barriere fire, which forced thousands from their homes and destroyed the village of Louis Creek. "We've got it 95 per cent contained," said Matuga. "But (with) 65-km/h forecasted wind gusts we're expecting our lines to be challenged today." Meanwhile, a fire creeping towards a town north of Creston almost tripled overnight to nearly 28 square kilometres.
The Kuskonook fire was moving east toward Kootenay Lake and 90 more firefighters were expected to join the 60 already fighting the fire. Fire information officer Jeff Green said the blaze was two kilometres away from the nearest structure.
Meanwhile, the Lamb Creek fire near Cranbrook, which was threatening homes south of the city, remained manageable at nearly 110 square kilometres.
Fire information officer Jeff Green said crews were very successful in quelling new spot fires as they broke out. "However there is concern with the weather," he said. "We will be watching the lightning maps very closely."
In all, there were 687 fires burning in the province.
The Canadian Press, 2003
09/5/2003 0:41 EST
I'm posting this here instead of Wildland or Fire Wire in order to bring to light the tremoundous job all those fighting the fires in BC are doing ..... STILL with no end in sight. We are having record hot temps, at least 10 degrees above normal avg.
This morning there were reports of high winds in the fire areas in BC. I keep thinking it can't get worse and then the fires destroy more and more and more.
Again, hats off to the awesome job the firefighters, soldiers, navy personnel who have fought non-stop all summer to save strangers and neighbours and even their own homes, businesses and property. And the many private citizens from BC and Alberta who have supported and cared for the firefighters through it all by providing food, clothing and graditude to the firefighters also deserve a huge THANK YOU.
I don't mean to diminish the job of any firefighter in the states or overseas currently fighting their own forest fires. It is just that I don't ever remember a season like this one, where so many homes and businesses have been destroyed. Threatened yes, destroyed no.
BE SAFE OUT THERE EVERYONE!!!
KELOWNA, B.C. (CP) - The resurgent Okanagan Mountain Park wildfire near here has claimed five historic railway trestle bridges and threatens the other 13, officials said Thursday.
The fire, which forced 3,200 people to flee their homes, some the second time, consumed five bridges on the 90-year-old Kettle Valley Railway line running through Myra Canyon, an internationally popular hiking and cycling route. Two of the other trestles along the 15-kilometre section of line southeast of Kelowna were also damaged, including one steel-framed trestle that lost its deck. Most of the bridges are made of creosote-soaked timber while two are steel with wooden decks.
Emergency officials also issued an evacuation alert to another 9,600 Kelowna-area residents, bringing to 15,100 the number of people in the area now on short notice to leave.
The alerts cover neighbourhoods on the southern and eastern fringes of Kelowna, a city of 100,000 people.
Late Thursday, B.C. Forest Service spokesman Jeff Moore said the remaining trestles, made of highly flammable creosote-soaked timber, are a major concern if the winds pick up Friday because "it's almost like adding gasoline onto the timbers.
"People are distraught," he said of the five historic Kettle Valley Railway trestles gobbled up by flames.
"It represents a loss of heritage, a loss of recreational activities, very significant ones," Moore said of the railway that was built in the early 1900s and has been out of service since the 60s.
Residents of the area's Black Mountain irrigation district were also advised to boil their drinking water after chlorine cylinders were removed from the local water-treatment plant due to the fire threat.
Fire crews were taking every precaution to protect homes once again in the path of the fire, said Karen Cairns of the Kelowna emergency operations centre.
"They're applying what they call a barricade gel to those homes and once again we're at the mercy of the wind," she said.
Driven by rising winds, the 2½-week-old fire grew by 17 square kilometres overnight to a total of 228 square kilometres and forecasts called for winds of up to 35 kilometres an hour.
"We're kind of fearing the worst," Kelowna Mayor Walter Gray said. "The fire probably will head east, which of course may take out more of the Kettle Valley historic railway."
The railway line, which took six years to complete after construction started in 1910, spanned some of the most challenging mountainous terrain in British Columbia. Canadian Pacific Railway closed it in the 1960s but volunteers restored the 18 decaying, trackless trestles in the 1990s. They installed guardrails and laid planking on the ties to make them safe for hikers and cyclists. The line now attracts thousands of visitors a year and is a major source of tourism revenue for the nearby town of Naramata.
In a small-scale replay of what happened about two weeks ago, residents of threatened Kelowna suburbs were ordered out on short notice Wednesday night.
B.C. Forest Service spokesman Kirk Hughes said the June Springs, Joe Rich and Gallagher's Canyon areas north and east of the fire were most affected. The fire was still several kilometres from any homes and its progress appeared to slow during the evening as it moved southeast.
Fire crews were also mopping up hot spots in the Crawford Estates area, one of the suburbs where more than 230 homes were destroyed earlier this month. Fire information officer Kevin Matuga said the fire's behaviour Wednesday was very similar to conditions that forced 30,000 to flee Aug. 21-22. "It's just extreme fire behaviour, with the kind of conditions we have, the dryness of the fuels," he told BCTV News. "Once again we're just getting those afternoon winds and with these conditions we're just seeing some very volatile fire behaviour."
Matuga said it will be hard to save the remaining Kettle Valley Railway trestles if the fire continues to act so aggressively.
For some, it was the second evacuation in just over two weeks.
Kyle Grant's family was ordered out Aug. 21 and lived at a hotel for a week before being allowed back home. On Wednesday night, the Grants found themselves back in the same hotel room.
"The stress level has been pretty high," Grant said. "My mom was very, very upset. My father is desperately trying to get back to Kelowna from Edmonton." Some 1,300 evacuees checked in at a recreation centre in Kelowna and will be put up in hotels if necessary, while others were staying with friends and relatives.
Officials also issued an evacuation order late Wednesday night to residents in the McGillivray Lake area east of Kamloops after high winds and dry conditions caused a blaze to jump fireguards.
An evacuation alert was also issued for the resort village of Sun Peaks and surrounding properties because of the McGillivray fire, which forced residents of the town of Pritchard to flee earlier this month.
The 96-square-kilometre McGillivray fire remains a concern, Matuga said. "We need to re-establish those control lines in anticipation of the winds that are forecasted for this area," he said.
Winds also threaten to derail the progress crews have made on the month-old McLure-Barriere fire, which forced thousands from their homes and destroyed the village of Louis Creek. "We've got it 95 per cent contained," said Matuga. "But (with) 65-km/h forecasted wind gusts we're expecting our lines to be challenged today." Meanwhile, a fire creeping towards a town north of Creston almost tripled overnight to nearly 28 square kilometres.
The Kuskonook fire was moving east toward Kootenay Lake and 90 more firefighters were expected to join the 60 already fighting the fire. Fire information officer Jeff Green said the blaze was two kilometres away from the nearest structure.
Meanwhile, the Lamb Creek fire near Cranbrook, which was threatening homes south of the city, remained manageable at nearly 110 square kilometres.
Fire information officer Jeff Green said crews were very successful in quelling new spot fires as they broke out. "However there is concern with the weather," he said. "We will be watching the lightning maps very closely."
In all, there were 687 fires burning in the province.
The Canadian Press, 2003
09/5/2003 0:41 EST
I'm posting this here instead of Wildland or Fire Wire in order to bring to light the tremoundous job all those fighting the fires in BC are doing ..... STILL with no end in sight. We are having record hot temps, at least 10 degrees above normal avg.
This morning there were reports of high winds in the fire areas in BC. I keep thinking it can't get worse and then the fires destroy more and more and more.
Again, hats off to the awesome job the firefighters, soldiers, navy personnel who have fought non-stop all summer to save strangers and neighbours and even their own homes, businesses and property. And the many private citizens from BC and Alberta who have supported and cared for the firefighters through it all by providing food, clothing and graditude to the firefighters also deserve a huge THANK YOU.
I don't mean to diminish the job of any firefighter in the states or overseas currently fighting their own forest fires. It is just that I don't ever remember a season like this one, where so many homes and businesses have been destroyed. Threatened yes, destroyed no.
BE SAFE OUT THERE EVERYONE!!!
Comment