Despite the threat of more wildfires in the region, part of the relief effort which had been established in Kamloops to help those who were forced from their homes by the fires in the South Cariboo are now in the South Okanagan.

Kamloops Deputy Mayor for August, Councilor Bill Sarai says Samaritan’s Purse, a charity organization which provides post-disaster relief for communities in need, has transferred its operations in Kamloops to Penticton.

This is where hundreds have been told to gather in the wake of the mass evacuation of Summerland early Saturday morning.

“That’s where the number one need is right now,” said Sarai when asked by Radio NL about any local resources which may be headed to the South Okanagan to help with relief efforts there.  “We respect that.”

Indications from the Christian charity group is that the BC government put in a request for their help in the South Okanagan.

“Emergency Management Climate Readiness has requested Samaritan’s Purse Canada’s assistance with additional evacuation facilities and recovery coordination,” said the group on its website link to the South Okanagan fires.  “Staff have been mobilized to support British Columbia with coordinated evacuation and recovery initiatives.”

“A recovery consultation is also underway to support community rebuilding efforts,” added Samaritan’s Purse.

Sarai says if there were to be some localized evacuation needed, the City of Kamloops does have its emergency overnight sheltering available at MacArthur Island, where over 100 temporary beds were established as the wildfires in the South Cariboo region forced folks from the Village of Clinton.

“We’ve got hotel rooms here,” noted Sarai.  “We’ve got everybody lodged that we need to.”

He adds that there may soon be additional hotel rooms available.

“Looks like some people will be going back into their areas, like Clinton,” he added.

Though nothing has been made official, it would seem that officials in Clinton are getting closer to being able to lift the evacuation orders, now that power has been restored to the Village core as of early Friday evening, as well as to outlying areas to the west of the Village shortly before 1pm on Saturday.

This should allow the Village to reactivate its water treatment units for both potable and waste water — provided there has not been any significant damage to the water facilities from the fire itself.

That one of the final major hurdles most municipalities need to overcome before being allowed to lift an evacuation order.

Sarai says the City of Kamloops stands ready to help if called upon again.

“Right now we’re manageable, but that could change in 24-hours and we can ramp right back up on short notice,” said Sarai.

“We’re not only the Tournament Capital of Canada for tournaments and sports fields, unfortunately we’re good at evacuations and emergencies too,” he added.

Fire danger in region still present

While focus right now is the situation in the south Okanagan, Saturday did provide a reminder that wildfires remain an ever-present danger in the Kamloops area as well.

Crews were called out quickly to put out a small but potentially damaging fire which took hold northwest of Sun Peaks earlier on Saturday.

The fire, which caught hold along the Heffley-Louis Creek Road area northwest of Sun Peaks, is now ‘under control.”

The BC Wildfire Service was able to keep the fire at just over 1 hectare, or 100 square meters, in size.

It came on the heels of the TNRD once again ordering a number of people to the southwest of Merritt out of their homes once-again.

Growing concerns about the Ainslie Creek wildfire, which Friday prompted the evacuation of 57 properties on the southern flank of the massive fire, prompted the TNRD to re-issue an evacuation order to an area to the north.

The 61 properties moved out of their homes in the Spius Creek area are the same people west of Merritt who were forced from their homes on July 25th, but then allowed to return home on Monday, August 3rd after that order was scaled back to an alert.