The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary have still activated their Emergency Operations Centre to a Level 1. They say fires have grown, at times significantly, over the past 24 hours.
The Horns Mountain Fire, located eight kilometres southwest of Big Sheep Creek in Washington State, is currently 480 hectares and 10 per cent contained. Evacuation alerts are in place for 33 addresses in the Santa Rosa and Big Sheep Creek areas between Rossland and Christina Lake.
The Toronto Creek Wildfire is burning on the east side of the Granby River valley near kilometer 13 on Granby Road. It’s 11 hectares in size and 70 per cent contained with 22 addresses on Evacuation Alert. Grand Forks Fire and Rescue is assisting with the monitoring of this fire and is ready to deploy the RDKB structural protection unit should the need arise.
The Kettle River Fire is burning south of Midway in the U-S on the eastern flank of Granite Mountain. It’s 21 hectares and 10 per cent contained.
The Lynch Creek Fire is 34 kilometers north of Grand Forks at the junction of Lynch Creek Forest Service Road and North Fork Road. Significant fire activity was observed on Wednesday and additional B-C Wildfire Service crews have been deployed. 25 addresses on North Fork Road are on evacuation alert and Lynch Creek Forest Service Road is closed to general public. The RDKB says there is a tremendous amount of blowdown and deadfall in this area, which makes it a challenging fire. It’s zero per cent contained and estimate at 50 hectares in size, although will likely be larger once mapping is complete. Above seasonal temperatures persist with very low relative humidity, plus a chance of lightning tomorrow and into the weekend. The RDKB says ongoing incident and evacuation pre-planning is underway and partner agencies are standing by to provide assistance if there is any reason to ask residents to evacuate.