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Residents of Clinton, B.C., and the surrounding area have been ordered to evacuate due to the fast-growing Pear Lake wildfire.
The Village of Clinton upgraded an existing evacuation alert to an order on Friday.
“The entire Village of Clinton is subject to this order,” the municipality said in a social media post.
“Gather your family and, if you have room, take a neighbour or someone needing transportation. Do not use more vehicles than you need to.”
DriveBC said Highway 97 was closed for nine kilometres between Clinton Cemetery Road and Mound Road.
A map showing Friday’s evacuation order for the Pear Lake wildfire. (Thompson Nicola Regional District)
As of Friday morning, the Pear Lake wildfire — one of several fires in the region that together make up the Big Bar fire complex — had grown to approximately 44.7 square kilometres.
The B.C. Wildfire service said the fire showed aggressive behaviour overnight, and wind had pushed it eastward.
To the north of Clinton, the Fiftynine Creek wildfire continues to burn out of control, and has grown to 167.2 square kilometres in size, prompting evacuation orders and alerts of its own.
Clinton Mayor Roland Stanke says there’s some concern the Pear Lake and Fiftynine Creek fires could merge. (Shelley Joyce/CBC)
Clinton Mayor Roland Stanke said the village ordered the evacuation after a briefing with wildfire officials raised safety concerns.
“Simply because of the Pear Lake wildfire becoming more aggressive than it had been in the past, and the Fiftynine Creek fire that is up by Big Bar, it is heading towards the highway up north,” he told CBC News.
“There’s some concerns that the two of them may merge.”
An emergency vehicle is seen on the Pavilion-Clinton road as the Pear Lake wildfire burns in the background on July 23. (Steph Creasey)
The village, located around 100 kilometres northwest of Kamloops, is home to about 650 people.
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) also expanded an existing evacuation order Friday morning for properties in Electoral Area “E” (Bonaparte-Plateau).
That order applies to 60 new properties near Clinton, bringing the total number of evacuated properties outside the municipality to 118.
Kamloops Search and Rescue said it had deployed a 12-member team to help deliver evacuation notices.
Evacuees are being directed to a reception centre in Kamloops at the McArthur Island Sport and Events Centre.
The TNRD also issued a new evacuation alert for 11 properties along a stretch of Highway 97 south of Clinton.
Couple sold property same day
It was an emotional Friday for Bernice Weihs-Anderson, a longtime Clintonite and former 12-year member of the village’s volunteer fire department.
After being diagnosed with asthma as an adult, Weihs-Anderson and her husband made the difficult decision to move somewhere less smoky on her doctor’s advice.
Bernice Weihs-Anderson works Friday morning to fire-proof her hobby farm for its new owners, clearing potential fuels, setting out sprinkler and covering the woodpile to protect it from possible embers. (Shelley Joyce/CBC)
It took nearly two years to sell their hobby farm, with word of the deal closing only arriving on Friday — the couple had been due to move out Friday night.
Before the order to evacuate came down, Weihs-Anderson had been spending the morning going the “extra mile” to fire-proof the property for the new owners.
She told CBC News the prospect of leaving her community during a crisis was heartbreaking.
“It makes you feel a bit like a traitor that I wasn’t able to stay,” she said.
“The best thing about Clinton is the people, there are so many wonderful people and so we have both been really, really sad about that process and saying goodbye.”