Six challenging wildfires still burning near B.C.'s Slocan Lake

The incident commander in charge of the fight to control six wildfires in southeastern British Columbia says changing weather conditions pose a challenge for crews.

Jason Lawler heads an Australian management team brought in to help battle the fires around Slocan Lake, and says what occurs in the morning can be very different than in the afternoons on some days.

In a video shared by the BC Wildfire service, Lawler says layers of smoke are also making it difficult to deploy aircraft to help fight the fires.

Lawler says the weather conditions "aren't great at the moment" and he's not expecting improvement in the coming days.

The forecast for nearby Nelson shows a 60 per cent chance of showers overnight Monday, with potential for more rain on Tuesday, but the rest of the week will be hot and sunny.

The entire Village of Slocan, in southeast B.C., was ordered evacuated Sunday along with hundreds of surrounding properties as multiple fires burn nearby.

Mayor Jessica Lunn says the evacuation has been surreal but she is comforted by the amount of support her community of about 370 residents is receiving.

The order covers all 208 properties in the village and 309 in the surrounding area.

"Everyone has been really nervous, (there's) a lot of anxiety or angst, and I've been so heartened to see the care in community, the offers from the wider community, to support our fellow Slocanites and those affected by these fires," Lunn said.

"There's been a lot of neighbours helping neighbours. So, folks were quite prepared for the actual evacuation order."

The Slocan Lake fires are among more than 360 wildfires active throughout the province. About half of those fires are classified as burning out of control.

The BC Wildfire Service says 284 fires have been declared out in the last week and rains with cooler temperatures have reduced fire behaviour on some major blazes.

Still, there are six wildfires of note, meaning they're either highly visible or pose a threat to public safety or infrastructure.

Among them is the roughly six-square-kilometre Aylwin Creek fire burning next to Highway 6 on the east side of Slocan Lake, opposite Valhalla Provincial Park.

On the other side of the highway, the Komonko Creek blaze is also a fire of note and is burning across nearly 23 square kilometres of forest.

The 11-square-kilometre Mulvey Creek fire is burning on a mountainside west of Slocan Village.

About 28 kilometres north of Slocan, an evacuation order remains in effect for the community of Silverton due to the same complex of fires.

B.C.'s driver information service, DriveBC, says Highway 6 remains closed for nearly 40 kilometres from south of Slocan to one kilometre beyond New Denver to the north.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2024