Over 300 properties in B.C. Interior ordered to evacuate as wildfire quintuples in size

Evacuation orders have now been issued for 324 properties in B.C.'s southern Interior following major growth of the Keremeos Creek wildfire over the last day.

As of Monday at 2:30 p.m. PT, the fire to the southwest of Penticton was estimated at 22.6 square kilometres in size, more than five times the estimate given a day earlier.

"It's not a very predictable wildfire. It's an out-of-control wildfire," B.C. Wildfire Service information officer Bryan Zandberg told reporters at a news conference.

The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) issued a new evacuation order Monday afternoon as well, covering about 50 properties along Sheep Creek Road South and Highway 3A, and north of Olalla.

In total, the wildfire has forced the evacuation of 324 properties so far, and another 438 are on evacuation alert, meaning they should be ready to leave at a moment's notice, according to RDOS information officer Erick Thompson.

Zandberg said activity on the fire has been "very vigorous" over the past 24 hours. Firefighters have benefited from a temperature inversion in the mornings, which keeps smoke low to the ground and limits oxygen to the fire, but that has tended to lift in the afternoon, allowing the blaze to grow.

"We're really ramping up personnel here," he said. "We're definitely mobilizing to be as aggressive as we can."

He also noted that although B.C. saw a late start to the wildfire season, there has been significant drying of vegetation in the southern Interior in recent weeks that has been conducive to fires.

"It's simply very good fuels in very dry conditions with low humidities," Zandberg said.

The cause of the Keremeos Creek wildfire is still under investigation.

Earlier Monday, RCMP officers were going door to door in the resort community of Apex Mountain Village, where an an evacuation order was issued for more than 200 properties. Dozens of other properties in Apex Mountain are on evacuation alert as well. 

The ski resort has been using its snowmaking machines to blast mist at buildings in an attempt to protect them from the blaze.

James Shalman, the resort's general manager, estimated that "a couple hundred" people live in the village during the summer months.

"Right now things are looking good, but you never know if the wind shifts and Mother Nature turns things sideways," he said.