(UPDATE: Aug. 29 @ 6:15 pm) – The Momich Lake wildfire has not shown any significant growth and remains estimated at 17,049 hectares.
There are 26 firefighters and one piece of heavy equipment on site.
Crews are supported by industry partners and two helicopters which have been made available through the Shuswap fire complex.
Structure protection equipment has been fully demobilized as the threat of the fire has diminished.
Crews assigned to the flank near Adams Lake are engaging in mop up operations.
Heavy equipment operators have completed their work along the Rock Creek road while danger tree falling continues.
The danger tree fallers are working to make public roads safe once again for the public.
BC Wildfire Service explains that crews are working to establish a water delivery system to bring water to the fire’s perimeter to support hotspot clean up.
The agency notes that “crews have progressed further down the north flank continuing to use direct attack methods on the fire perimeter. This work will continue today as well as targeting visible smokes along the 40 Road.”
On the southern flank, a fire guard has been completed and crews are also engaging in direct attacks in this area.
(UPDATE: Aug. 26 @ 1:25 pm) - The Momich Lake wildfire has grown to an estimated 17,049 hectares.
At the north end of Adams Lake, crews will be working to extinguish hotspots that popped up off Gannett Road. Heavy equipment has also completed the contingency guard in the vicinity of the 40 Road to tie into the main fire.
The 40 Road is now safe and has reopened.
Crews are building a guard around spots on the north flank and using direct attack methods as water is being delivered to the perimeter.
BCWS is working with heavy equipment to tie switchbacks together for containment lines on the 1020 FSR. That work will continue today as crews advance up slope and blacklining as they go.
Plans are in place for a small-scale ignition if conditions warm up and fuels dry out.
There are currently 28 firefighters working alongside two pieces of heavy equipment. An incident management team is currently monitoring the Shuswap Wildfire Complex, and four helicopters are being shared between the complex.
For up to date information on evacuation alerts and orders head to Thompson-Nicola Regional District or Columbia Shuswap Regional District.
(UPDATE: Aug. 23 @ 3:40 pm) – The Momich Lake wildfire is still estimated at 16,534 hectares.
There are 24 firefighters and 15 pieces of heavy equipment working on the fire today.
An evacuation order and alert for 14 properties in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District electoral area “O” have been downgraded to “all clear.”
Eleven properties were on evacuation order while three were on evacuation alert.
The evacuation alert for the Columbia Shuswap Regional District electoral area “F” near Humamilt Lake remains in effect.
BCWS once again confirms that fire is not advancing towards Seymour Arm.
The north, south and west Humamilt Lake recreation sites remain closed.
For more information, visit the website for Recreation Sites and Trails in BC.
Crews completed the fire guard at the north end of Adams Lake and contingency guard near the 40 Road (which is now reopened).
They will continue to open up the Gannett Road eastwards.
Danger tree assessments and falling operations continue on the northern flank of the fire while crews directly attack hotspots in the area.
To support these operations, some members of the crew continue to establish a water delivery system.
On the southern flank of the fire, rank one behaviour was observed as crews worked with heavy equipment to tie in the containment lines.
(UPDATE: Aug. 21 @ 8:30 pm) – The Momich Lake wildfire has not shown any significant growth this week.
BCWS is still estimating the fire at 16,534 hectares but is also forecasting gusting winds with a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon.
There are 31 firefighters, 11 pieces of heavy equipment and five structure protection personnel on site.
BCWS still assures residents that the fire is not advancing towards the community of Seymour Arm.
The Columbia Shuswap Regional District rescinded the evacuation order for the west end of Humamilt Lake, effective Aug. 20 at 4 pm.
The Evacuation Order issued by the CSRD for properties in Electoral Area F due to a wildfire burning near Humamilt Lake is hereby RESCINDED effective Friday, August 20, 2021 at 16:00 Hours. The area reverts to ALERT status. See https://t.co/zZJX8ur2LM pic.twitter.com/cwEL5VWzLE
— Columbia Shuswap Regional District (@ColShuRegDist) August 20, 2021
Crews continue to work on the guard on the north end of Adams Lake, moving north to Gannett Road.
The contingency guard near the 40 Road has now been completed.
BCWS explains that mop up operations will continue in this area before the danger tree fallers move in for a final clean up of the area so the road can be reopened.
Crews discovered a spot fire off the north flank of the fire and are working to extinguish it by directly attacking it and delivering water to the area.
An evacuation alert issued by the Thompson-Nicola Regional District remains in effect, as well as an evacuation order for 11 properties.
(UPDATE: Aug. 18 @ 3 pm) – Over the weekend BCWS noted that the fire was approximately 11km away from Seymour Arm but that movement has stalled.
The cause of this 16,534 hectare wildfire remains under investigation.
There are 35 pieces of heavy equipment and 30 firefighters assigned to this fire today with the support of industry partners.
There are also five structural protection personnel on site.
Heavy equipment crews have now completed approximately 60% of the fire guard on the north end of Adams Lake.
This guard will further secure the properties located in this area.
Crews continue to build control lines around the northwestern flank of this fire.
If conditions remain favourable, planned ignitions are a possibility today.
These ignitions will remove unburnt fuel between the perimeter of the fire and established control lines.
The evacuation order, issued by the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, for the west end of Humamilt Lake remains in place.
An evacuation alert for one property in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District electoral area “O” is still in effect.
Eleven properties in electoral area “O” also remain on evacuation alert.
(UPDATE: Aug. 15 @ 5:30 pm) – The Momich Lake wildfire has grown 2,873 hectares since Friday.
BC Wildfire Service is now estimating the fire is burning at 16,534 hectares and attributes the new size to more accurate mapping.
“The smoke did moderate the fire behaviour for this fire yesterday. There was rank 1 and 2 observed,” explosions the agency.
However, the smoke did impede visibility so no bucketing occurred yesterday, Saturday Aug. 14.
BCWS also notes that the fire is approximately 11 kilometres from Seymour Arm.
There are 26 firefighters, five structure protection personnel, 25 pieces of heavy equipment and industry partners assigned to this fire today.
Heavy equipment crews made “good progress” in building a guard in the north end of Adams Lake towards Gannett Road.
Crews will continue to build a contingency guard near the 40 Road that will tie into the main body of the wildfire.
Monitoring will be ongoing in the area south of Momich Lake.
Smoke from the Momich Lake fire #momichlake over Seymour Arm this evening. #BCwildfires #BCWildfire pic.twitter.com/OIZGT1jwEk
— Amy Christianson (@ChristiansonAmy) August 12, 2021
“Industry partners completed a machine guard around the majority of this fire. Structure protection is in place on structures that require it, in the vicinity of this fire,” affirms BCWS.
Once visibility improves air resources, such as helicopters, will move in to support the suppression efforts.
The evacuation order issued by the Columbia Shuswap Regional District remains in effect.
The evacuation order issued for 11 properties by the Thompson-Nicola Regional District on Aug. 12 also remains in place.
The TNRD also issued an evacuation alert for three properties in electoral area “O” which is still in effect.
(UPDATE: Aug. 13 @ 10:35 am) - The Momich Lake wildfire continues to grow at a fast rate.
The fire has doubled in size since the start of the week, including more than 6,000 hectares of growth over the past 48 hours.
It now sits at 13,661 hectares in size the BC Wildfire Service says.
"Due to (Thursday's) fire behaviour, there was extensive growth to the northeast towards Meadow Creek along the Cayenne Creek, and to the east towards Humamililt Lake," the latest BCWS update explained.
A small part of the growth is due to the Momich Lake fire merging with another small wildfire that was just northeast of Adams Lake.
"These areas will be reassessed today, and the priority will be structures. There was no impact to the properties along north end of Adams Lake last night," the update continued.
"This morning the winds have been favourable for the portion of the fire that may impact these structures. The fire is being pushed away from this area."
An evacuation alert issued by the TNRD remains in place for the electoral area “O.”
The west end of Humamilt Lake evacuation order issued by CSRD is also still in effect.
There are currently 37 firefighters and 66 pieces of heavy equipment assigned to this fire, while eight helicopters are readily available to respond to any fires in the Shuswap Complex.
(UPDATE: Aug. 10 @ 5:40 pm) – The Momich Lake wildfire, burning 55 kilometres northeast of Barriere, has grown to 7,345 hectares.
Although fire activity has remained largely stable, BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) did report that the fire saw increased behaviour and some growth on the eastern flank.
Since the last update on Sunday, this fire has grown 909 hectares.
However, BCWS explains that the established fire guards continue to hold.
Industry partners have now established a machine guard around the majority of the fire.
Crews completed guards in the northeast corner on Aug. 8 and are now setting up a water delivery system.
There are 28 firefighters and 30 pieces of heavy equipment assigned to this fire today.
BCWS crews are supported by industry partners and five structural protection personnel.
An evacuation alert issued by the TNRD remains in place for the electoral area “O.”
The west end of Humamilt Lake evacuation order issued by CSRD is also still in effect.
(UPDATE: Aug. 8 @ 2:15 pm) – The Momich Lake wildfire burning northeast of Barriere is estimated at 6,436 hectares.
BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) reports that they are monitoring this incident with 3 personnel and support from industry workers with heavy equipment.
“Industry partners have 31 personnel and 28 pieces of heavy equipment responding. Five structure protection personnel are on-site. Eight helicopters are available to respond to the Shuswap Complex.”
The industry workers have been creating a guard with the machines around the perimeter of this fire.
Progress has been made on the south and western flanks of this fire.
Crews will continue to work on the north side of the fire today and tomorrow while ground crews engage in mop up operations.
“Decreased fire behaviour was seen yesterday [...] with cooler temperatures and limited precipitation,” notes BCWS.
An evacuation alert issued by Thompson-Nicola Regional District for electoral area “O” remains in place.
The evacuation order issued by the Columbia Shuswap Regional District also remains in place.
(UPDATE: Aug. 5 @ 11:45 am) – The Momich Lake wildfire, which is burning 55 kilometres northeast of Barriere, is burning at an estimated 6,136 hectares.
BC Wildfire Service reports that the updated size is due to “a high level scan [being] completed on this fire on Aug. 4.”
Today, there are still 40 pieces of heavy equipment working on this fire.
Crews are supported by industry works and air support will become available as skies continue to clear.
There is also a structure protection unit on site.
The evacuation alert for one property in the TNRD electoral area “O” remains in place.
An evacuation order for the west end of Humamilt Lake has been issued by the CSRD.
(UPDATE: Aug. 3 @ 3:25 pm ) – The Momich Lake fire has grown to an estimated 6,500 hectares.
BC Wildfire Service explains that they have faced visibility issues, so an accurate track of the perimeter has not been completed.
The fire had some growth on the eastern flank but the fire did receive some precipitation over the weekend.
“Crews are making good progress using heavy equipment. Aerial resources are being impacted by heavy smoke in the area,” explains BCWS.
The north, south and west Humamilt Lake recreation sites are closed.
Visit this link to keep up to date with other park and trail closures.
Today, there were 40 pieces of heavy equipment working on this fire while BCWS continues to monitor the incident with the support of aerial and industry resources.
An evacuation order for one property has been downgraded to an alert, while other alerts remain in place.
Visit tnrd.ca for more information.
The evacuation order for the west end of Humamilt Lake issued by the Columbia Shuswap Regional District remains in place.
(UPDATE: July 26 @ 12:00 pm) – The Momich Lake wildfire, burning 55 kilometres northeast of Barriere, is now burning at 4,200 hectares.
The fire is burning out of control while the new size estimate comes after improved visibility.
Yesterday, there was one helicopter supported by 25 pieces of heavy equipment on scene.
BC Wildfire Service is monitoring this wildfire with support from the crews.
There is also one Structure Protection Unit working on site.
The evacuation order for one property in Electoral Area “O” remains in place alongside the evacuation alert for two properties.
Visit tnrd for more information.
(UPDATE: July 21 @ 3:30 pm) – The Momich Lake wildfire has grown to an estimated 2,500 hectares and remains out of control.
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District has issued an evacuation order for one property and an evacuation alert for two properties in Electoral Area O.
There are currently 25 pieces of heavy equipment on location.
BC Wildfire Service is monitoring this incident and working alongside industry workers and heavy equipment, as well as a structure protection unit.
NowMedia Staff will update this story as information becomes available.
(Original Story: July 19 @ 11:45 am) – The Momich Lake wildfire northeast of Barriere remains out of control.
It is now at 2,168 hectares.
BC Wildfire Service (BCWS), however, said the blaze is a “low-vigour fire” displaying Rank 2 behaviour (Rank 1 is least bad, Rank 6 is worst).
An evacuation alert issued by the Thompson-Nicola Regional District remains in place.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
BCWS said the fire is being monitored with the support of two pieces of unspecified heavy equipment.
A structure protection unit is also on site.
If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.
If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.
