Shuswap fire- chronology

Summer 2023 will be painted with a black brush in the history of the Shuswap and British Columbia. The province wide drought and subsequent fires have decimated the environment and quality of the life here. How is possible that a province on the Pacific Ocean with hundreds of lakes and rivers doesn’t get enough precipitation? Where is the moisture from the ocean and evaporated water from the lakes? Summer thunderstorms that dumped copious amounts of rain used to be a common occurrence especially in Shuswap. The Lake and surrounding mountains created a warm and humid microclimate and perfect place to live. Unfortunately in the last few years that is no longer the case.

Why? Aside from mismanagement and bad coordination between the provincial bureaucracy and a monoculture forestry which is focused purely on profit, BC forests are being sprayed with herbicide glyphosate which contains roundup. Since 1980, BC forestry sprayed or manually brushed over 1.3 million hectares of forest. As of today, BC forestry is still spraying over 15,000 hectares per year.

https://stopthespraybc.com/

Weather manipulation is another huge factor. See the previously published article below on weather manipulation.

https://freeshuswap.com/weather-manipulation/

Chronology of Adams Lake Complex Fire

July 12, fire started on the west side of Adams Lake, approximately 3.75 miles from the lake; reported cause is lightning.

July 13, fire on the West side grows to 82 acres. A new fire is spotted one mile east of the Adams Lake, grows to 33 acres.

July 20, the fire grows for one week on the West side to 230 acres and 650 acres on the East side.

July 31, fire on the West side reaches over 2460 acres, on the East side almost 4880 acres. Fire on the East side reaches the lake.

July 31, A man and woman set a fire close to the railway tracks in the Tappen area. The couple was caught by the RCMP and charged $2300. Fire was knocked out immediately by the local firefighters.

https://www.saobserver.net/news/person-fined-2300-for-fire-started-near-salmon-arm/

July 31, Structural Protection Units were redeployed from Adams Lake to other communities.

August 2, The BC Wildfire Service reported that there was no threat to communities on the East side of Adams Lake.

https://www.csrd.bc.ca/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1605

August 2, CSRD issued an Evacuation order for the Lower East Adams Lake fire.

August 5, fire on the East side reached the lake and grew to more than 8,000 acres. The size of fire on the West side exceeded 10,000 acres.

August 9, rain in Shuswap decreased the size of the fire to a little over 1,000 acres. People and nature relaxed.

August 10, no fire recognized by the NASA satellite.

https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/usfs/map/#t:adv;d:2023-08-10..2023-08-11;l:landsat,noaa20-viirs,viirs,modis_a,modis_t,countries;@-119.7,51.0,13.0z

August 11, almost 38 acres of fire localized on the East side of Adams Lake and almost 200 acres on the West side.

August 12, the Evacuation order from August 2 downgraded to an Evacuation Alert for Lower East Side of the Adams lake fire.

https://www.csrd.bc.ca/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1629

August 13, fire on the West side grew to 160 acres, on the East side close to 1400 acres.

August 14, fire fighters made camp on the Squilax Airfield, on the Squilax- Anglemont Rd. More than 100 firefighters from Costa Rica and 100 from Brazil joined the BC crews on the site. It was reported that 15 helicopters were available for the Adams Lake fires.

August 15, winds picked up and the fire on both side of the lake reached almost 7000 acres. The fire approached the high voltage power line, {0.30 mile} which runs from Mica Creek to Vancouver.

August 16, Evacuation Alert issued for Lee Creek.

August 17, Adams Lake fires reached over 46,000 acres.

August 17, firefighters set up fire hoses around the structures in Scotch Creek.

August 17, 4.00 PM BC Wildfire Services started an aerial ignition. 6424 acres were intentionally back burned, right behind Scotch Creek and Lee Creek, despite a forecast of strong winds. Residents of North Shuswap complained they were not informed about that action. The fire extended on both sides of the high voltage power line, without damaging or interrupting power distribution.

https://www.csrd.bc.ca/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1642

August 18, An Evacuation order was declared for a portion of Meadow Creek while the balance of the community, along with Celista, was issued an evacuation alert. The CSRD encouraged people to leave their homes and follow the order.

August 18, an Evacuation order is issued for Lee Creek, Scotch Creek, Magna Bay and the Little River Road area. At 10:00 AM the fire camp on Squilax Airfield is still in place.

August 18, the fire camp was evacuated to Kamloops. The fire engulfed the Race Trac Gas station and somehow crossed the Trans Canada Highway[ TCH}. The TCH was closed between Sorrento and Chase.

August 19, An Evacuation Alert, and later in the day an Evacuation Order was issued for West part of Sorrento and the Skimikin Area.

August 19, a road blockage was set up on the boundaries of the evacuation order area, preventing food, water and fuel from reaching the people who remained in the Evacuation order area to fight the fire and protect their homes.

August 19, in the afternoon the CSRD shut down the Bulk Water station in Sorrento, which locals used for fighting hot spots and for livestock around Notch Hill and Sorrento area.

August 19, fires on Adams Lake and Sorrento passes 90, 000 acres.

https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/usfs/map/#t:adv;d:2023-08-18..2023-08-19;l:landsat,noaa20-viirs,viirs,modis_a,modis_t,countries;@-119.6,50.9,11.0z

August 21, CSRD issues a special permit for evacuees to leave the area and get back home. The tickets cost $60 and were discontinued after one day.

August 24, the TCH reopened.

August 25, the Evacuation Order for the Skimikin Area, Sorrento and Little River Area is downgraded to an Evacuation Alert.

August 25, the CSRD reports 131 structures totally lost and 37 with partial damage.

There are lot of ongoing fundraisings to help people from North Shuswap, one of them is:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/North-Shuswap-fire-recovery

*All measurements of fires are approximate and based on information from the FIRMS website, {Fire information for Resource Management System} US/CANADA. Link in the article above.

DB, CB