A feeling of relief settled over the Shuswap on Monday, Aug. 11 when the BC Wildfire Service changed the status of the Hullcar Mountain Fire near Armstrong from out of control to being held.
Based on this, the Shuswap Emergency Program downgraded evacuation orders to alerts, with previous alert areas moved to an all-clear status.
Since the end of July, the Shuswap has endured almost daily “severe thunderstorm watches” often for a period of several hours.
The Hullcar fire (K41796) erupted following an Aug. 4 lightning strike on the upslope of Salmon River Road and, over the next several days, grew from 10 to more than 700 hectares in size.
Firefighters from the Silver Creek Fire Department responded immediately and, while they could not go into woodland areas, monitored the fire overnight while a BC Wildfire Service helicopter dropped water on the blaze.
Response to the wildfire ramped up in the Shuswap Emergency Program’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and Emergency Support Services (ESS).
On Monday, EOC Director Derek Sutherland was able to spend time on his regular job as the Columbia Shuswap Regional District’s General Manager of Community and Protective Services.
Pleased with response to the Hullcar wildfire, Sutherland said that BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) did a wonderful job hitting the fire hard and fast.
“They used lots of resources to get the situation to being held,” he said, pointing to the wildfire being the first in B.C. to have night vision resources, a para-attack crew from Fort St. John, who literally dropped in to fight the fire, three helicopters, 100 personnel and seven pieces of heavy equipment. As well, 21 structural protection personnel responded, with a five-person CSRD Fire Services team setting up a structural protection unit on the interface.
“Silver Creek and Ranchero Deep-Creek Fire Departments showed incredible community leadership in preparing for actions on the fire,” he added.
Work to fight the fire and protect and assist affected community members was also ongoing in the busy EOC.
CSRD Deputy Regional Fire Chief and EOC Operations Chief Len Youden explained that when BC Wildfire asked CSRD to establish orders and alerts along Deep Creek and Salmon River roads, members of Shuswap Search and Rescue went door to door in the order area to make sure residents were aware of the situation and what they needed to do.
As well, Fire Mitigation Specialists Sophie Randell, Jeremy Denny and Chris Ross visited all properties in the alert area to provide Fire Smart advice to reduce the risk to their homes and other structures.
“People feel helpless and the thing they can do is remove items around their homes that we know cause structural ignition,” he said of the possibility of an alert becoming an order very quickly. “Once a home is on order, we are responsible to provide security.”
Youden understands the frustration some Deep Creek residents experienced because they were stopped at the security checkpoint at the border between CSRD and Spallumcheen and redirected north to Hwy 97B when they wanted to head south to Armstrong and beyond.
“It’s a pain the butt, but we don’t take orders and alerts lightly,” said Youden, pointing out the road was used by fire trucks and security patrols. “We appreciate people’s understanding; if your property is under order, you don’t want to be robbed while you are not home.”
Youden also gave kudos to members of the Ranchero and Deep Creek Fire Departments who were ready to respond immediately if the fire headed towards communities.
BCWS based their operations at the Silver Creek Firehall, where Fire Chief Darcy Blair was included in morning and afternoon briefings on the weekend.
“In the morning I’d hear about plans for the day and in the evening, I’d hear about the results,” he said, noting he was in constant contact with the fire department group chat. “If we got an influx of calls, I’d be able to answer questions.”
At the Silver Creek Community Centre, CSRD Area D Director Dean Trumbley and Chief Administrative Officer John MacLean hosted an information centre for area residents, something Sutherland calls “a good bridge between the EOC and the community.”
In her role as Operations Section Chief in the EOC over the weekend, Randell attended early morning meetings with BCWS, relaying information at daily EOC briefings and managing firefighter deployments from a pool of 350 regional district firefighters.
In that respect, Randell’s job was made easier Saturday by the arrival of Silver Creek Fire Chief Darcy Blair and Wildfire Mitigation Specialist Jeremy Denny.
On his way home from deployment on the Shetland Creek fire near Ashcroft, Blair dropped into the EOC and was immediately sent to the Hullcar fire as team lead on apparatus deployment.
Reporting in from the Slocan wildfire, Denny arrived in the EOC and promptly jumped into an operations support role.
GIS (Geographical Information System) mapping is vital in the role it plays and Sutherland offered high praise to the EOC’s mapping capability.
“Good mapping is critical for situational awareness of the EOC and community members,” he said. “We have good examples where a good mapping desk can alert us to imminent fire danger to a community, and our mapping personnel are top-notch professionals dedicated to their communities.”
Sutherland also has respect and praise for community members affected by the Hullcar Wildfire.
“Residents were great to deal with,” he said. “We were on the same page, wanting the quickest and safest resolution to the fire.”
While CSRD Fire Services members were protecting structures, Emergency Program Coordinator Cathy Semchuk and her team of four to six volunteers went to work on helping 11 families who were put on evacuation order on Aug. 6.
“One group worked until 12:30 a.m. taking care of families from Deep Creek and Silver Creek,” she said of the ESS reception centre that is situated at the CSRD office on Lakeshore Drive in Salmon Arm. “One of the biggest successes was being able to e-transfer funds.”
Semchuk said all Shuswap residents should help themselves and ESS by downloading a BC Services Card app on their cellphone. For more information or assistance go to Service BC office at 850A 16th St. NE or call 250-832-1611.
“They have been a huge help, they bent over backwards to help us,” Semchuk says. “So much so that they prioritized evacuees and made it easier for them and for ESS.”
While it is being held, the Hullcar Mountain Fire is still active as is wildfire season and the threat of thunderstorms.
