The Ongoing Wildfire Thread

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by blender

Upper Arrow lakes ferry is running 24 hrs apparently.
Also, last night I know people who bypassed the closure of hwy 1 via 97 and Armstrong. Check drive BC

There are all kinds of back roads...except at Ellison Lake where you're pretty much stuck on 97. (That's for people coming out of Kelowna/Lake Country).


For those coming out of the Chase area....I dunno that I'd be going back roads...it looks like they're getting cut off fast.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Just called my cousin who's houseboating on Shuswap right now.

He said the area of the lake they're on is still ok and operating, but surrounded by poor, smokey air.

Seemed odd to me they're still be operational looking at these maps but I guess it's a big lake.

The Shuswap is huge and Sicamous isn't at risk from any fires

[Whynotnow]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

There are all kinds of back roads...except at Ellison Lake where you're pretty much stuck on 97. (That's for people coming out of Kelowna/Lake Country).


For those coming out of the Chase area....I dunno that I'd be going back roads...it looks like they're getting cut off fast.

Excellent advice in taking back roads right now, that could turn bad very fast. As much as I joked about going north through Jasper depending on someone’s situation it may be worth considering if you have the time because it will also keep you off the main routes which are likely getting clogged up by residents, tourists and logistics support for everything going on.

[activeStick]

Is there any way the fire jumps over the water to East Kelowna?

[Scornfire]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Is there any way the fire jumps over the water to East Kelowna?

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by Scornfire

I ask because I *think* the fire is currently in West Kelowna, right and I am assuming East Kelowna is relatively safe?

[Knut]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I ask because I *think* the fire is currently in West Kelowna, right and I am assuming East Kelowna is relatively safe?

It jumped already yesterday.

[MoneyGuy]

Hasn’t the fire jumped the lake before?

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by Knut

It jumped already yesterday.

Damn. Thanks, I wasn't aware.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

The Shuswap is huge and Sicamous isn't at risk from any fires

For now, but I'm sure the people in Kelowna felt relatively safe from the West Kelowna fires right up until they weren't.

Most arms of the Shuswap are similarly wide as the Okanagan, so - unfortunately - it's not unfathomable for fire to jump to another side of the Shuswap and change things very quickly.

We have friends that lost their cabin yesterday. I hope for the best and everyone stays safe.

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I ask because I *think* the fire is currently in West Kelowna, right and I am assuming East Kelowna is relatively safe?

the west kelowna fire did jump the lake to kelowna 2 nights ago (at least that is what officials think started the kelowna fire)

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by you&me

For now, but I'm sure the people in Kelowna felt relatively safe from the West Kelowna fires right up until they weren't.

Most arms of the Shuswap are similarly wide as the Okanagan, so - unfortunately - it's not unfathomable for fire to jump to another side of the Shuswap and change things very quickly.

We have friends that lost their cabin yesterday. I hope for the best and everyone stays safe.

the bolded part is very true - we never thought the fire would jump the lake.
i remember back in 2003 with the okanagan mountain park fire we had a ton of ash landing at our place (we lived in north rutland at the time - so about 25km away). so having ash go a long distance is nothing new - but for burning embers to cross the lake - yea... i was pretty surprised.
yesterday burning embers were landing on top of kelowna general hospital so there was a crew up there with water to extinguish the stuff that was coming down. it's pretty scary the distance a fire like this can 'jump'.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by you&me

For now, but I'm sure the people in Kelowna felt relatively safe from the West Kelowna fires right up until they weren't.

Most arms of the Shuswap are similarly wide as the Okanagan, so - unfortunately - it's not unfathomable for fire to jump to another side of the Shuswap and change things very quickly.

We have friends that lost their cabin yesterday. I hope for the best and everyone stays safe.

I live here in the Shuswap and am aware of how big the lake is. The fire jumped the lake in Kelowna at one spot because of a very rare crazy wind storm. You need significant wind storms to cross the lake. The Adams Lake fire would have to travel quite a ways in one direction then change directions and hop the lake in its largest spot while having another rare wind storm just at the right time as the fire hit the opposite bank on order for it to cross. It's not happening. The risk is extremely low. The risks are much higher here in Salmon Arm and while it can happen and they've cancelled the music festival this weekend, there's no real risk of the fire racing here unless there's another weather event

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ya, definitely don't take the hot spots map as an indication something burned. It's lower resolution data and more of a "fire in the area" indicator.

Hope so.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Heard 40km gusts expected later today. I assume in the same direction they've been blowing.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

Heard 40km gusts expected later today. I assume in the same direction they've been blowing.

We're 2-3km winds expected here and it's completely calm. Even a little bit cool

[fotze2]

Wife and kid moving to Lake Country next week. My buddy’s place is likely burnt down. He evacuated on Friday and it was 100 ft from his place. Can’t get in too see. Just moved in too.

I know Iggy is there, wonder if his pad is alright?

The ball of water under a helicopter seems like the least efficient way of fighting these. We can run surface line from a lake 3 km away for a frac in hours. There is an unlimited source of water 4 feet from the fire.

Emissions reductions will take a century to take effect, so in the meantime why don’t we take measure to mitigate.

We can put a man on the moon, entire human history of knowledge on a phone in my pocket, but fires, how bout a thimble of water under a helicopter. What is this flames hit substance?

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

We're 2-3km winds expected here and it's completely calm. Even a little bit cool

Hopefully the humidity stays up. That will help the firefighters out a bit.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by fotze2

Wife and kid moving to Lake Country next week. My buddy’s place is likely burnt down. He evacuated on Friday and it was 100 ft from his place. Can’t get in too see. Just moved in too.

I know Iggy is there, wonder if his pad is alright?

The ball of water under a helicopter seems like the least efficient way of fighting these. We can run surface line from a lake 3 km away for a frac in hours. There is an unlimited source of water 4 feet from the fire.

Emissions reductions will take a century to take effect, so in the meantime why don’t we take measure to mitigate.

We can put a man on the moon, entire human history of knowledge on a phone in my pocket, but fires, how bout a thimble of water under a helicopter. What is this flames hit substance?

I was thinking about the fires in Hawaii the other day and it just seems to me that those 'Fire Boats' that they have in New York Harbour?

Why not just keep a couple of those babies around just in case? Cant they chuck huge sums of water something like 300+ yards? They just intake it from the source beneath them and fire away.

Imagine having one of those moored outside Lahaina or meandering about Lake Okanagan just suppressing fires with huge amounts of easily accessible water.

There has to be a reason that wouldnt work otherwise you'd think someone would have done it.

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

We're 2-3km winds expected here and it's completely calm. Even a little bit cool

Agreed. Very still ... as it was last night as well.