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No verified structures lost to Finlay Creek fire

B.C. Wildfire say unverified damage reports date from early in Finlay Creek fire
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B.C. Wildfire has increased the resources being used to fight the Finlay Creek fire. (Kathy Michaels/Black Press)

Fire information officer Rachel Witt is wondering why word of structures affected by the Finlay Creek fire is just now spreading.

“We are aware that structures have been affected, but that is not new. It has been on the fires of note page for a couple of days,” said Witt, who admits they didn’t have any details beyond that. “All we heard was that there had been impact on structures from the fire, but that was during its initial rapid rate of spread.”

B.C. Wildfire Service does have structural protection personnel working down by Garnett Lake, she said.

“They are looking at the priorities and getting sprinklers onto buildings, that type of activity,” said Witt. “The southern flank is really the most active right now.

“We have really increased our resources today and continue to battle a pretty aggressive fire.”

There have been other, false, reports on social media like the Kettle Valley Steam Railway buildings being burnt, or all of Summerland being under an evacuation order.

Witt said it’s understandable that people might get confused, given how busy this fire season has been, and how anxious people can get looking at the valley skies being blanketed by smoke for days on end, with a dim red sun shining through.

The amount of information grows daily, including many agencies besides B.C. Wildfire trying to get information out to their stakeholders, from regional districts to First Nations.

“There is so much information being thrown at people that it just gets lost sometimes or mixed up,” she said adding that the best source for their latest information is their fires of note page.