Shuswap firefighters are in Osoyoos where the 1,450-hectare Eagle Bluff wildfire has prompted evacuation orders and alerts affecting the municipality and neighbouring areas .
The Shuswap Emergency Program announced Monday, July 31, that a structure protection crew left for Osoyoos over the weekend. The crew consisted of White Lake firefighter Keesha Friesen, Malakwa firefighter Kylana Farn, Garth Whelen with the Anglemont Fire Department and Nadine Christie of the Ranchero-Deep Creek Fire Department, with Ranchero’s Len Youden serving as team leader.
The Salmon Arm Fire Department’s Lt. Mike Picul and Mark Koprowsky also left for the South Okanagan over the weekend to provide structure protection in Osoyoos.
As of Monday, 192 properties remained on evacuation order in the Town of Osoyoos and in the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen’s Cawston, Rural Osoyoos and Rural Oliver areas. An additional 2,000 properties were under evacuation alert as residents are asked to prepare in case the fire advances further.
BC Wildfire Service had 61 firefighters, five helicopters, 11 pieces of heavy equipment and structural protection crews working on the fire.
The fire started south of the Canada-U.S. border near Oroville on July 29.
With files from Brennan Phillips/Penticton Western News.
