The Pear Lake wildfire prompted expanded evacuation orders on Friday for properties on both sides of Green Lake, north of Clinton, B.C., where officials continued to assess structural damages after the blaze surged a week ago.
Colton Davies, an information officer with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, said rapid damage assessments this week found dozens of properties affected by the fire, and officials were calling the owners to notify them.
The assessments took place south of Clinton in the Highway 97 corridor and on Pavilion-Clinton Road to the west of the village, he said in an interview on Friday.
Davies said crews had not yet been able to assess areas north of the village where officials believe there may be additional losses.
A post to the Village of Clinton’s Facebook page on Thursday said it was not yet safe to complete in-depth assessments, so the owners of properties that suffered minor damage may not have been contacted at that point.
The update came as the Thompson-Nicola Regional District issued a statement saying more than 500 properties had been added to its evacuation order, which covers almost 1,120 properties, including those on the south side of Green Lake.
The Cariboo Regional District, which has jurisdiction over the north side of Green Lake, also issued an evacuation order covering about 366 parcels of land.
Residents of the Green Lake area had been told Thursday that an upgrade from an evacuation alert to an order was a “likely scenario” in the coming days.
Officials have warned that a cold front with gusty winds could fan extreme fire behaviour in areas where blazes are already threatening communities.
Bryce Moreira, an incident commander with the BC Wildfire Service assigned to the complex of wildfires in the south Cariboo, said the front was expected to move through by Saturday, bringing winds of 30 to 40 kilometres per hour, creating conditions ripe for the rapid spread of fires.
The service has said many areas of B.C. are also “extremely dry,” especially in the south, with highly flammable fuels increasing the likelihood of new wildfire starts.
Moreira said the days ahead would be critical for firefighters as winds come from the southwest ahead of the cold front, then turn northwest as the front moves past.
The Pear Lake fire has grown to span about 730 square kilometres in the south Cariboo region, one of several fires that make up the Big Bar complex.
Clinton Mayor Roland Stanke said the power was still out in the village and there was no return date for residents as crews were still stomping out flare-ups.
BC Hydro issued an update Thursday saying it was estimating power could be restored in Clinton within about two weeks.
It said about 1,100 customers remained without power in the area, with “significant damage” to electrical infrastructure affecting Clinton, 70 Mile House, parts of the Cache Creek area, Big Bar Lake and the Highway 97 corridor.
Early assessments had identified about 230 damaged or destroyed distribution poles along with 200 transmission poles, the Crown utility said.
It said crews were starting preliminary restoration work in that area along with the Fraser Canyon, where the Brunswick complex of fires has damaged infrastructure.
But ongoing wildfire activity was restricting access to some areas, and there remained “strong potential for additional damage,” the statement said.
“Given the scale of the damage, restoring power will require rebuilding large sections of infrastructure, not simply repairing isolated outages,” it said.
In the Fraser Canyon, the utility said about 100 customers remained without power in the Boston Bar, Hell’s Gate, China Bar and North End areas.
“Despite wildfire activity in several regions of the province, BC Hydro’s electricity system remains stable,” it said.
“In addition to restoration efforts, BC Hydro crews continue supporting BC Wildfire Service operations by helping clear roads, remove hazardous trees and improve access routes for first responders and critical services.”
