‘Before it’s too late’: Residents urged to heed wildfire-related evacuation order

B.C.’s Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar says the majority of fires in the province are caused by lighting strikes.

Some residents ordered to evacuate their homes in and around Boston Bar, B.C., have chosen not to leave.

In the Fraser Valley Regional District, around 450 properties are under evacuation order due to the Brunswick Complex of wildfires. The two out-of-control blazes had scorched a combined 2,000 square kilometres as of Saturday evening.

In an update from the Emergency Operations Centre, spokesperson Samatha Piper urged residents to comply with evacuation orders.

“It is not safe to return to or remain in any evacuation order area,” she said in a video statement posted online, adding the district is aware people have stayed behind.

“They are at risk and should leave the area and adhere to the evacuation order. They will not know before it is too late to leave the area, or before exit access is cut off. This is a dynamic emergency with changes occurring quickly and we need people to leave the area for their protection and the protection of first responders.”

Piper noted checkpoints have been set up to control access into and out of the evacuated area, and that security personnel and police are patrolling within it.

An update from the B.C. Wildfire Service Saturday night said cooler and more humid weather has “moderated fire behaviour. Still, crews are working 24-hours a day to establish containment lines around the blaze and to prepare for an anticipated change in conditions.

“Overnight Sunday, winds are forecast to shift from southerlies to northerlies, accompanied by increased temperatures and lower humidity. This combination of warmer, drier, and wind from the north that is forecast for Monday and Tuesday has the potential to significantly increase fire behaviour,” Saturday night’s online update from the BCWS said.

The effort includes 245 firefighters, 23 helicopters, 41 pieces of heavy equipment and 76 structure protection personnel.