The BC Wildfire Service says fire crews are still “mopping up” after Sunday’s dramatic battle to save the community of Williams Lake after a wildfire broke out Sunday evening in that city’s river valley.

Images of planes were dropping fire retardant on the edge of the city flooded social media last night, as Williams Lake declared a local state of emergency.

Mayor Surinderpal Rathor says the 40 hectare fire was sparked by a tree that fell on a power line just before 6 p.m..

“And in my 50 years of residency we have seen the worst of the worst,” Rathor told Radio NL. “2017 was a pretty bad fire for our community but I don’t think anybody – never mind me, but even those in the firefighting profession – has seen such an aggressive fire like we had yesterday.”

But Rathor also says there was almost an equally strong show of support from surrounding communities as crews began to respond to the fire.

“People from 100 Mile to Quesnel, Lac Ha Hache, and 150 Mile, everybody was there,” Rathor added. “The Cariboo Fire Centre wildfire people and the local, doesn’t matter if it was the sheriff’s office, the RCMP, search and rescue, you name it, everybody was on the fire.”

Williams Lake resident Spencer Stratton got a front-row view of the wildfire fight as he was part of a group of around 100 people who gathered about a block away from the fire front on the outskirts of town.

“Everybody was panicked and understandably because the fire was less than a road across from us,” Stratton said. “It was one set of buildings away from us.”

“It was pretty bad,” Stratton added. “There were water bombers, like the big big plane flew right overhead and he was not more than four buildings above us in the area, so he was really low to the ground, so it shook the whole parking lot, cars, buildings everything when he got in that close.”

While there were plumes of thick black smoke as an auto wrecker went up in flames Sunday, fire intensity has dropped significantly this morning, as crews patrolled the area overnight looking for hot spots.

Rathor says crews are trying to get the fire under control before the winds pick up once again today.

The City of Williams Lake also says residents should remain off Williams Lake itself as aircrafts will be using it as a source of water.

“BC Wildfire Service crews, as well as the Williams Lake Fire Department and supporting emergency personnel, are working this morning in the River Valley to extinguish hot spots and secure the perimeter of the fire,” an update from the Williams Lake EOC said.

Rob Warnock, the director of the emergency operations centre in Williams Lake, says some residents who were evacuated last night have been allowed to go back home.

The City of Williams Lake remains under a state of local emergency remains, while the evacuation alert that was issued Sunday evening is still in effect for a large area on the city’s west side.

“I’m not going to lift that state of emergency as well as the alert until I’m 100 per cent clear everything is safe and okay,” Rathor said.

As of 9:30 pm on Sunday, July 21, the City of Williams Lake has declared a State of Local Emergency (SOLE) due to a wildfire in the Williams Lake River Valley.
Read the latest release noting the evacuation alert area at: https://t.co/IgBvIFR23u pic.twitter.com/NmMWo5KZ8Y

— City of Williams Lake (@CityWL) July 22, 2024

The Williams Lake fire is one of more than 330 wildfires currently burning across British Columbia. The Ministry of Emergency Management says about 440 properties are on evacuation order while another 3,000 are under evacuation alert.

– With files from The Canadian Press