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TUESDAY September 11, 2012 The Central Okanagan’s Best-Read Newspaper www.kelownacapnews.com
▼ PEACHLAND
Trail of red tells tale of the Trepanier Fire Kathy Michaels STAFF REPORTER
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CONTRIBUTED BY AARON SNYDER/NOTHINGMAN PHOTOGRAPHY
FLAMES AND SMOKE rise out of Peachland and the surrounding area on Sunday afternoon as helicopters (left) and air tankers (above) dump water and fire retardant on the Trepanier Fire. DOUG FARROW/CONTRIBUTOR
Monday when they were brought up the hillside to sift through the charred remnants of their homes and possessions. “This was a winddriven event,” stressed Jim Mottishaw, a forest protection officer who helped co-ordinate the air assault, noting the fire moved three kilometres over the course of an hour. That said, he’s confident the damage was kept at a minimum despite windy and dangerous conditions. They just don’t look like they did when they
were evacuated. “Besides the homes lost, there are quite a few painted red (from retardant),” he said. Red tinged roads, houses, cars and the burnt husks of trees and brush around a number of residential houses should offer some insight into how narrowly damage was averted, he said, noting that the Ponderosa golf course may be the unsung hero of the firefight. Years previous, when trees were removed and the area was landscaped, a fire barrier was in-
advertently built and that helped the battle on the Trepanier side of the fire. That’s in part how crews gained the upper hand there—reporting containment on that side of the fire— but the Pincushion side of the mountain is another story. It’s yet to be contained, and the challenge will be putting out hotspots and burning that is spread over a significant swath of land. That said, the efforts to date have been heartening to Peachland Mayor Keith Fielding.
His “heart goes out to” those who have lost property, but the effort to date has given him confidence that the fire will be dealt with swiftly. What’s yet to be dealt with, however, is sussing out the cause of the fire. Speculation has run rampant and everything from a house fire gone wild to a stray meteor and discarded cigarette have been tossed around as theories. Officials refused to comment on any possible causes. All that’s clear is that
the fire started around 3 p.m. near Trepanier Creek Greenway Regional Park and grew steadily, despite an early assault from helicopters bucketing water. The challenge was winds moving from 50 to 60 km per hour that whipped a small fire into a gargantuan blaze by 6 p.m. At that point it was measured at roughly 100 hectares and just a few hours later it had doubled. Due to the speed it was moving, an evacuation order was issued for the about 1,500 residents
living southwest of the Okanagan Connector including Trepanier Road and it was clear from the start that danger was imminent. That was downgraded to an evacuation alert for more than 1,100 residents by Monday night. Several people who arrived at the Emergency Support Services reception centre in Westbank said they saw at least two houses in flames, including one close to the HainSee Fire A3
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Four houses and several outbuildings were casualties of the Trepanier blaze that broke out Sunday afternoon, but officials aren’t ruling out the possibility that tally could rise in the days ahead if the weather mounts a challenge. “There are hotspots and trees burning and we’re expecting 50 km/h winds…and it may not rain,” said Peachland fire chief Grant Topham, outlining lingering problems related to the 200 hectare Peachland fire, that was sitting at 50 per cent containment by Monday afternoon. Those conditions, he explained, could put crews in the same position they faced when fires encroached on a residential area the day before. “The wind was blowing hard” and, despite dozens of firefighters’ efforts, several streams of flames pushed out of their reach. “You have to remember the wind was blowing very hard in that area and we had crews in there. We saved many, many homes,” said Topham. Two homes in the Trepanier area went up in tandem, then another, and one more abandoned property on the regional district side of the fire. All efforts to douse the flames were stymied, as their owners learned