An evacuation order for an area south of Highway 24 including the areas of Watch Lake, Little Horse Lake, Little Green Lake, and the western side of Sheridan Lake was issued by the Cariboo Regional District this afternoon as volatile winds continue to fuel growth and extreme fire behavior on the Elephant Hill fire.
“Based on the challenging dry conditions that we do have in that area now that the fire has encroached on the Interlakes area, definitely a consideration in order to protect folks in the community that are in that area,” says Fire Information Officer Claire Allen.
“And unfortunately strong winds are expected to persist throughout the day.”
Adjacent areas south of Highway 24 remain on evacuation alert and the alert has now expanded to include some areas north of Highway 24 according to the CRD. Due to immediate danger to life safety, members of the RCMP or other groups will be expediting the evacuation order. The evacuation route is: Highway 24 to 100 Mile House
View a map of the order areas here: http://bit.ly/2wp3kuk
On Tuesday night unexpected sustained strong winds of 15-25km/h gusting up to 40km/h saw the blaze escape containment lines on the north, allowing it to move approximately 9km north to the south shore of Jack Frost Lake which prompted some evacuation orders.
Allen says they are currently responding with all available resources, and that they have air tankers actively skimming off of the Green Lake area.