Latest B.C. wildfire forces people from their homes, damages properties

People living in a popular recreational community northwest of Whistler, B.C., said they stood in shock as an aggressive wildfire consumed multiple lakeside cabins after flaring up on Monday.

Owen Rose was standing at the east side of Gun Lake when fire raced down the hillside across the water toward a line of cabins around 6 p.m. PT.

“I’m literally watching the flames come down the hill and start attacking cabins … it was, number one, sort of astonishing, freaky, incredibly scary all at once,” said Rose, whose father owns a cabin on the east side of the lake.

“As we’re watching one cabin, then another cabin and the wind pushing the flames towards the cabins.”

Rose said he saw at least five cabins burning.

“A lot of those cabins were built in the ’40s and ’50s. So you’ve got a lot of sentimentality, a lot of family history there, and it’s just devastating … It’s a total nightmare scenario.”

The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District said there have been fewer than “five confirmed structure losses” as of Tuesday.

The district said the term “lost” could mean destroyed or partially damaged, but officials have not been able to get into the area to confirm.

“We have not been able to assess all the areas because the hazard conditions are not allowing our staff to go in,” district chair Jen Ford said in an interview.

“It is our understanding that most of the properties up there are recreation cabins, but we do know that a number of residents live there year-round.”

Flames from the lightning-caused Downton Lake wildfire had made slow but steady progress through steep, wooded terrain at the western end of Gun Lake since the blaze was sparked on July 13 but suddenly flared late Monday.

“It was moving very actively, very aggressively up and over the ridge. We had eyes on the ground that saw it on the west side of the lake. Rather quickly, it grew, and the smoke was overwhelming,” said Ford.

An evacuation order covering the more than 200 properties around the lake was issued Tuesday and quickly upgraded to critical, urging the many seasonal visitors and handful of permanent residents to leave for Lillooet or Whistler.

Evacuation alerts were expanded Wednesday to areas north of Gun Lake, including Tyaughton Lake and the Tyax Resort, as well as the nearby town of Gold Bridge, extending south towards Gwyneth Lake Resource Road.

The nearly 18-square-kilometre fire has quadrupled in size since Monday.

“It’s incredibly important that everybody heeds the call to evacuate the area and, most importantly, don’t go into the area — we’ve got to keep the roads clear, we’ve got to get people out of there,” said Ford.

The fire is on the northern edge of Downton Lake but also extends east toward nearby Gun Lake. The lakes sit side-by-side roughly 110 kilometres northwest of Whistler.

On Wednesday, B.C. Parks closed the South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park northwest of the blaze, citing the current and forecasted behaviour of the fire.

“This park will remain closed until further notice, but you can still visit other provincial parks that remain unaffected by wildfires,” reads a notice on the B.C. Parks website.

The B.C. Wildfire Service said the fire was driven by the wind.

“This is definitely an evolving situation, very dynamic,” said fire information officer Aydan Coray.

“We are expecting the next two days, in particular, to show you know continued warming and drying trends, no real reprieve in terms of precipitation or slowing winds.”

Wildfire north of Whistler, B.C. leads to evacuation orders

The B.C. Wildfire Service says the Downton Lake wildfire was sparked by lightning in mid-July.

John Rose, 81, said he intends to stay as long as possible to keep the sprinklers running on the roof of his log house and on the heritage log cabins on the neighbouring property built by his parents in the 1940s.

“This isn’t heroic,” said Rose, a retired B.C. Parks Service ranger, whose property is across the lake from the flames.

“I just don’t think anyone else could handle this setup.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Owen Rose said his father has since re-assessed the situation and left the property.

He said their cabin was still standing, and he hopes it stays that way.

 

With files from Yasmine Ghania, Jordan Tucker and The Canadian Press