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Kamloops Fire Centre - Information updates

(UPDATE: July 16th @ 8:20 a.m.)

The Thompson Nicola Regional District (TNRD) has relocated our Emergency Social Services (ESS) Reception Centre from Thompson Rivers University (TRU) to Sandman Centre. Almost 500 cots have been set up in Sandman Centre for group lodging and we are looking to expand group lodging capacity by another 200 beds.

The Sandman Centre is located at 300 Lorne Street and will stay open tonight to receive evacuees. Evacuees will be accommodated on a first come, first served basis. Four Paws Food Bank will also be open to receive small animals.

Due to capacity limits with group lodging, we encourage evacuees and those on alert to plan ahead and arrange their own accommodation if possible and stay with friends and family.

Kamloopsians have opened their doors. We have setup a Facebook group (TNRD Donations and Lodging Group) for evacuees to connect with generous residents willing to help. Regardless of where you stay, all evacuees need to register with Red Cross at 1‐800‐863‐6582. TNRD has also setup a volunteers facebook page.

CDART is looking for volunteers that are good with horses

Canadian Disaster Animal Response Team (CDART) is looking for a group of shift volunteers in the Kamloops area that are horse savvy – this is a must. They also need to know how to handle other farm animals in addition to horses. Volunteers are also needed for a 24 hour animal shelter. This shelter handles small pets – dogs, cats and small animals (bunnies, hamsters etc.) Volunteers are also needed as runners to complete errands. CDART is taking applications over the phone and will assign the shifts. Those interested can call 250-938-2211 or 1-778-855-3264

Vernon BC

As part of the provincial response to wildfires that have forced evacuations, City of Vernon is activating and operating a group lodging facility at the request of the Province of B.C. for evacuees of the Williams Lake area. The reception centre is located at the Vernon Curling Rink. Until further notice, the centre is operating 24 hours a day. As the curling rink parking lot will be under construction beginning Monday, July 17, people needing to access the reception centre should park at the 35 Avenue entrance near Priest Valley Arena.

Emergency Social Services (ESS) is requesting community members that have ESS or emergency management experience and are willing to volunteer to contact [email protected]. Volunteers with a previous criminal record check are preferred.

Okanagan Centre Fire

The Okanagan Centre fire started late afternoon on Saturday. You can find the main story here.

Central Okanagan Emergency Support Services

An Emergency Support Services reception centre is open for residents evacuated as a result of this afternoon’s fire in Lake Country.

ESS volunteers are available to help register residents now at the existing reception centre at the Kelowna Salvation Army Church, 1480 Sutherland Avenue at Burtch Road and Sutherland Avenue. Those people out of their homes must attend the reception centre in person to register for assistance and group lodging.

Salvation Army Continues to Provide Assistance in the Midst of Further Evacuations

As the BC Wildfires continue to rage across many regions of our province, The Salvation Army Emergency Services want to assure communities that they remain on scene in several locations providing vital services such as food, water, blankets, temporary shelter, and emotional and spiritual support to those affected by the crisis.

In an effort to ensure that community and individual needs are met, additional Salvation Army Feeding, Meet and Greet, and Emotional and Spiritual Support Teams have been deployed to the Reception Centre in Surrey, a Reception Centre in Vernon, Prince George and another in Kelowna.

Emergency Vehicles and crews remain on scene in Prince George, Kamloops, Kelowna and Surrey; ready to serve those in need of assistance.

As of mid day Saturday, The Salvation Army Emergency Response Teams have provided more than 38,400 items of food, water, snacks, blankets, and toiletries and offered Emotional and Spiritual Support to more than 400 individuals.

Original story - July 15, 2017 - Kamloops Fire Centre

As of July 15th, 2017, there are 26 active wildfires in the Kamloops Fire Centre. To date for this year, the Kamloops Fire Centre has had 101 fires with 18,009 hectares burned. At the same time last year, Kamloops responded to 94 fires, with a total of 242 hectares burned.

The largest fire is the Ashcroft Reserve fire which is currently at 14,700 hectares in size. More information on that fire can be found in our Ashcroft Reserve fire story. The Ashcroft fire started on Thursday, July 6th, 2017.

The Princeton Fire is now estimated to be 3,300 hectares in size, and is still seeing a 35% containment figure. Today there are 139 firefighters, as well as one incident management team, nine helicopters and 30 pieces of heavy equipment assigned to that fire. There are also 28 industry personnel on standby. See our Princeton story for more on this fire.

There is a cluster of fires in the Little Fort area.

The Dunn Lake fire - which is being described as a combination of two fires in the Dunn Lake area - is estimated to be 1,950 hectares in size and is approximately 20% contained. There are 63 firefighters assigned to that fire, as well as four pieces of heavy equipment and two water tenders. Some resources are being shared with that fire and the Thuya Lake fire, which has 10 helicopters and an incident management team.

The Dunn Lake fire has continued to grow in further north. Winds are expected to pick up in that area today and into tomorrow. The focus is on containing the SE corner if and when the wind picks up later today.

The Thuya Lake Road fire is now estimated to be 450 hectares in size and approximately 40% contained. There are 79 firefighters, nine pieces of heavy equipment and three water tenders on site. The Dunn Lake fire is sharing the 10 helicopters and incident management team because they are so close together.

The Thuya Lake Road and Dunn Lake Road fire is very rocky and that's provided a significant challenge for heavy equipment access. Both of those fires are highly visible from the highway in the surrounding area and the smoke continues to be quite thick, which is hampering visibility for ground crews and aircrafts.

For information on wildfires across the rest of the province, you can read our BC Wildfires by the Numbers story.

For evacuation alerts and updates visit TNRD.ca. or their Twitter account.

BC Wildfire is asking people to stay out of the backcountry due to extreme fire hazard.

If you want to listen in on the BC Wildfire update, you can click the podcast below.



Send your comments, news tips, typos, letter to the editor, photos and videos to [email protected].



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