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UPDATED: Evacuation alert expanded to part of Johnsons Landing

An evacuation alert has now been expanded to parts of Johnsons Landing due to the Fry Creek wildfire.

The Regional District of Central Kootenay says the alert covers about 50 properties from Gar Creek south to Fry Creek and the community of Birchdale. The full list is at bottom, but they include homes on Houston Road, McNicol Road, Kootenay Joe Road, and Holmgren Road.

Those communities are northeast of Kaslo on the east shore of Kootenay Lake’s north arm.

The Regional District of Central Kootenay initially issued an alert on Thursday for 14 properties at Birchdale and Fry Creek, which are only accessible by boat.

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RDCK spokesman Dan Elliott said there are both permanent and seasonal residents in those places, but they weren’t sure how many of each.

The Fry Creek wildfire was discovered on Aug. 25. It’s classified as out of control. The BC Wildfire Service says smoke is preventing accurate mapping, but it’s estimated at 150 hectares. It’s burning in steep terrain in the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy that the agency says is unsafe for crews to work on directly.

“The fire has grown over the last few days and is highly visible, particularly at night,” they said. Winds yesterday blew the fire onto the south side of the Fry Creek drainage, but the south flank towards Birchdale did not see the same growth.

Today, personnel are in the air and on the ground planning suppression action, BC Wildfire said. Airtankers are laying retardant on the south flank of the fire to slow its growth downslope.

It’s believed the fire was started by lightning.

It is the second evacuation alert the RDCK has issued this year. The other, for 14 properties west of Kaslo near the Briggs Creek wildfire, has since been rescinded.

The properties affected are:

1956 ARGENTA-JOHNSONS LANDING RD

138 BIRCHDALE WAY

200 BIRCHDALE WAY

2039 HOUSTON RD

2040 HOUSTON RD

2046 HOUSTON RD

2047 STENBERG RD

2051 ARGENTA-JOHNSONS LANDING RD

2051 HOUSTON RD

2075 ARGENTA-JOHNSONS LANDING RD

2080 ARGENTA-JOHNSONS LANDING RD

2110 HOUSTON RD

2155 MCNICOL RD

2165 MACNICOL RD, JOHNSON’S LANDING

2185 HOUSTON RD

2188 HOUSTON RD

2215 KOOTENAY JOE RD

2216 HOLMGREN RD

2223 HOLMGREN RD

2230 HOLMGREN RD

2240 KOOTENAY JOE RD

2244 HOLMGREN RD

2251 KOOTENAY JOE RD

2254 HOLMGREN RD

2260 HOLMGREN RD

2261 KOOTENAY JOE RD

2265 KOOTENAY JOE RD

2275 HOLMGREN RD

2280 HOLMGREN RD

016-429-079

012-731-188

016-077-971

023-193-859

024-677-973

027-545-491

006-438-521

024-384-321

018-363-164

005-439-841

007-093-951

016-077-989

012-526-223

030-378-818

016-077-938

016-417-631

012-929-727

017-681-821

011-125-918

016-444-957

Monument Creek fire

Meanwhile, the Monument Creek fire about 17 km north of Nelson is now estimated at about 300 hectares. It was also caused by lightning and grew thanks to wind on Wednesday. Parts of the fire have now moved into terrain considered safe for crews to access.

A unit crew and heavy equipment are being deployed to the Six Mile drainage to begin work there. Two helicopters are now assigned to this incident to cool that section while crews and heavy equipment work in the area. Response officers are on site assessing and developing a containment plan for the Duhamel Creek area. No structures are threatened.

Woden Creek fire 

The Woden Creek fire, burning about 27 km northwest of Slocan and three kilometers west of Valhalla Park is estimated at 145 hectares and is also blamed on lightning.

Since Monday, ground crews have been working on containment with support from helicopters bucketing to cool fire behaviour. It doesn’t threaten any structures either.

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