UPDATE: The South Okanagan town of Osoyoos in B.C.’s Interior is now partially under an evacuation order.
At 10 p.m., the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen upgraded an evacuation alert it had issued just hours earlier after an American wildfire crossed into Canada.
The wildfire is called the Eagle Bluff Fire by American fire officials, but was called the Lone Pine Creek wildfire by B.C. officials.
However, late Saturday, BC Wildfire ditched the Lone Pine Creek name and went with the U.S. version.
BC Wildfire also upgraded the blaze to being a wildfire of note.
Regardless, the regional district’s evacuation order affects the western part of Osoyoos plus electoral areas A and B.
It covers the area north of the border to the intersection of Highway 97 and Highway 3, plus west and north along Highway 3.
In all, more than 700 properties are affected by the order and alert.
More information is available on the RDOS website and on the Town of Osoyoos website.
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Smoke rises from the Eagle Bluff Saturday’s wildfire near Osoyoos, B.C.
Kent Drover
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A wide-angle view of the wildfire from Anarchist Mountain near Osoyoos, B.C.
Kent Drover
ORIGINAL STORY:
The Town of Osoyoos is under evacuation alert after an American wildfire crossed Canada’s border on Saturday.
Smoke from a wildfire burning near Osoyoos, B.C., filters out the sun on Saturday.
Courtesy Jeff Bastian
The fire — called the Eagle Bluff Fire by Washington state fire officials and the Lone Pine Creek wildfire by B.C. officials — is located southwest of Oroville in the U.S., and was sized at 2,500 acres.
The Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources said the fire was burning north towards Canada, and that evacuation advisories were issued in Okanogan County.
Oroville is roughly six kilometres south of the border, while part of Osoyoos hugs the border.
In British Columbia, the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen issued the alert at 7:30 p.m., stating Osoyoos plus electoral areas A and B were on alert.
According to the BC Wildfire Service, the blaze is close to Osoyoos; around three kilometres from Osoyoos Lake, but less than two kilometres from some homes on the town’s western edge.
The Canadian size of the fire was estimated at 200 hectares at 9:40 p.m.
More than 700 properties in the South Okanagan are now on evacuation alert. Click here to view the properties under evacuation alert.
Smoke from the wildfire began drifting into the Central Okanagan shortly after 5 p.m.
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