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UPDATE: Wildfire closes Highway 1 east of Cache Creek

Strong winds from the north have pushed the fire toward the former mushroom compost facility.
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Smoke from the fire near Highway 1 east of Cache Creek. Tom Moe

UPDATE: 2:23 p.m.

Highway 1 is now closed 4 km west of Savona. There is no estimated time of opening.

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Strong winds from the north on August 4 also caused a portion of the southeast corner of the Elephant Hill wildfire to begin burning south toward Highway 1 east of Cache Creek near the former mushroom compost facility.

Cache Creek fire chief Tom Moe, who was driving past the site at around 10 a.m., said on Facebook that the fire “Doesn’t look too bad yet, and saw about 7 structural protection firetrucks and sprinkler unit on scene monitoring it.”

There are conflicting reports as to whether or not Highway 1 is closed, with some reporting that people are being turned back at Walhachin and others saying they were able to get through. There is no information on the DriveBC site.

The Elephant Hill fire, which started on July 6, now covers 93,700 hectares and is only 30 per cent contained. The 2017 wildfire season is already the second-worst one on record, eclipsed only by the 1958 wildfire season.



Barbara Roden

About the Author: Barbara Roden

I joined Black Press in 2012 working the Circulation desk of the Ashcroft-Cache Creek Journal and edited the paper during the summers until February 2016.
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