BC fires

garyhaupt wrote:
If you are transiting the Cariboo this weekend, be ever vigilant. The weather people are back with another bleak outlook.

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-201783-3-.htm#201783


Gary Haupt

I think the only ones transiting the cariboo are the emergency personell at this time. Hwy 97 is closed at Cache Creek further north, also Hwy 24.
Drive BC

If you are transiting the Cariboo this weekend, be ever vigilant. The weather people are back with another bleak outlook.

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-201783-3-.htm#201783


Gary Haupt

Our daughter and her family were camping at Green Lake PP just east of 70 Mile. They bailed out on Saturday. With Hwys 1 and 97 closed the only way out was 24 to Little Fort then 16 and 5 back home. There are fires burning near Little Fort but the 24 is still open. To compound things today, 5 north is closed because of a burning big rig.

Removed post...was time sensitive for Wednesday..and the storms forecasted didn't materialize, so all good there.


Gary Haupt

Highway 97 south of Sicamous is open but it is not a pleasant drive due to heavy smoke, visibility is down to less than a mile. Definitely stay away if anyone in your party has respiratory issues.

List of road closures effective today (Tuesday) in the fire zone areas:

Highway 1: closed from Ashcroft to Cache Creek; and both directions east and west out of Cache Creek; and in the westbound lane to Savona.

Highway 5A: closed in both directions at junction with Highway 3 in Princeton and north of Princeton at Allison Lake Provincial Park.

Highway 97: closed from junction of Highway 1 in Cache Creek to Clinton, and at the Canim Hendrix intersection to the Timothy Lake Road junction. Open to northbound traffic from Williams Lake and closed to southbound traffic from 15 kilometres south of Quesnel.

Highway 99: closed from Hat Creek Junction to Highway 97.

Highway 20: closed to westbound traffic at the Chilcotin Bridge, 25 km west of Williams Lake.

Highway 24: closed to westbound traffic heading to 100 Mile House from the junction with Horse Lake Road.

Likely Road: closed from 150 Mile House to junction with Horsefly Road.


List of closed Provincial Parks as of last night:

Beaver Valley Provincial Park
Becher’s Prairie Provincial Park
Betty Wendle Provincial Park
Big Bar Provincial Park
Big Basin Provincial Park
Big Creek Ecological Reserve
Big Creek Provincial Park
Bowron Lake Provincial Park
Bridge Lake Provincial Park
Bull Canyon Provincial Park
Canim Beach Provincial Park
Cardiff Mountain Ecological Reserve
Cariboo Mountains Provincial Park
Cariboo Nature Provincial Park
Cariboo River Provincial Park
Cedar Point Class C Provincial Park
Chasm Ecological Reserve
Chasm Provincial Park
Churn Creek Protected Area
Copper Johnny Provincial Park
Cottonwood River Provincial Park
Crater Lake Provincial Park
Dante’s Inferno Provincial Park
Doc English Bluff Ecological Reserve
Donnely Lake Provincial Park
Downing Provincial Park
Dragon Mountain Provincial Park
Edge Hills Provincial Park
Eleven Sisters Provincial Park
Finger-Tatuk Provincial Park
Flat Lakes Provincial Park
Fraser River Breaks Provincial Park
French Bar Provincial Park
Green Lake Provincial Park
Homathko River – Tatlayoko Protected Area
Horsefly Lake Provincial Park
Ilgachuz Ecological Reserve
Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park
Junction Sheep Range Provincial Park
Kluskoil Lake Provincial Park
Lac La Hache Provincial Park
Long Creek Provincial Park
Marble Range Provincial Park
Moose Valley Provincial Park
Mount Tinsdale Ecological Reserve
Narcosli Ecological Reserve
Nazko Lake Provincial Park
Nuntsi Provincial Park
Patterson Lake Provincial Park
Pinnacles Provincial Park
Puntchezacut Lake Provincial Park
Punti Island Provincial Park
Quesnel Lake Provincial Park
Rainbow / Q’iwentem Provincial Park
Redbrush Provincial Park
Ruth Lake Provincial Park
Schoolhouse Provincial Park
Ten Mile Lake Provincial Park
Titetown Provincial Park
Ts’il?os Provincial Park
Tweedsmuir Provincial Park South – Backcountry
Wells Gray Provincial Park
Westwick Lake Ecological Reserve
White Pelican Provincial Park

Others have provided a link to the active fires map of B. C. That will give a good idea of where not to go. Be aware that as of a few days ago, they are beginning to shut down access to wilderness provincial parks. Wells Grey and Bowron Lakes parks for example are now closed.
If things don't change soon, they will also shut off all access to any backcountry areas. Even industrial access will be curtailed. This will of course put more pressure on the front-country areas.

There are fires east of the mountains here in Washington but nothing like what's going on in BC and the rest of the west. We have escaped the heat that the SW has experienced.

2oldman wrote:
BC active fires

Look here ^

The Okanagan region is fine for the moment although somewhat smoky, not a good place for those with respiratory issues. The major problems are west of Kamloops, highway 5 (Coquihalla)is open but keep an eye on the road reports, conditions change quickly.