Crews make headway with wildfires near Kimberley
Published 10:59 am Tuesday, August 11, 2026
B.C Wildfire Services and local contract crews are making headway with a group of fires burning near Kimberley, B.C, with one fire being held and another fully under control.
The Wait Creek fire burning near Ta Ta Creek has been brought under control by crews, who are continuing to mop up the fire and secure fire boundaries, as well as searching for dangerous trees and fallen trees along roadways. Heavy equipment and aviation resources will continue to have a presence in the area going forward.
The fire was discovered on Saturday, Aug. 1 27km east of Kimberley, and has grown to 1,399.14 hectares, driven by an initial bout of strong wind. This prompted an evacuation order to be issued for residents living in the Ta Ta Creek area, and an evacuation alert for neighbouring communities of Wasa and Lazy Lake. The evacuation order and alert have since been rescinded.
The Tower Creek fire, burning just west of Kimberley, is being held at 1,232.6 hectares and is expected to remain within established lines of control and fire boundaries, according to B.C Wildfire.
The final evacuation alert for one single property in the St. Mary’s Lake area near the Tower Creek Wildfire was rescinded on Sunday, Aug. 9 at 2 p.m.
Evacuation alerts for 65 other properties in the area were lifted earlier, but one property at 4404 St. Mary Lake Rd. remained under the alert until Sunday, as a safety precaution.
“We want to thank the B.C Wildfire Service for their continued work on the Tower Creek fire and all the fires in the region,” said Regional Emergency Operations Centre Information Officer Loree Duczek.
“With the potential for thunderstorms and lightning in the coming days and the continued dry conditions across the region, residents are urged to continue to remain aware and prepared of local conditions and sign up for the Regional Evacuation Notification System (ENS) if they haven’t already done so,” Duczek explained.
“The notification system is only used for evacuation alerts or orders in critical events and has been implemented as an additional tool to help us get the word out as quickly as possible to affected areas when time is of the essence,” Duczek added.
Residents who have already registered for the service and haven’t confirmed their registered locations are properly “pinned,” are also encouraged to verify.
“We have had a few people who called to say they hadn’t been notified during a recent alert and when we went in to check, none of their pins were on their actual property and instead were some distance away and fell outside the alert area boundary,” said Duczek.
The Matthew Creek fire continues to burn approximately 15km west of Kimberley, and has reached 1,825.95 hectares. B.C Wildfire is closely monitoring the site as 10 to 18 kilometre winds blow through the area — calmer than previous gusts, although still variable.
Crews are continuing to monitor the fire, reinforcing the boundaries of the fire as it burns and clearing the land of burnable ground material in areas that are too steep for machines to access.
Residents of the Kimberley Special Care Home, who were moved to surrounding communities to prepare for a possible evacuation order, have returned home.
53 residents were moved on July 23 due to the Matthew Creek wildfire. Interior Health states that extra precautions were taken once the Wait Creek wildfire was announced after the start of the initial evacuation from the senior’s home.
Interior Health continues to closely monitor wildfire activity in the region in consultation with municipalities, regional districts, and the BC Wildfire Service to help keep staff, physicians and clients safe.
Information on how to register for the Regional Evacuation Notification System can be found on the Emergency Information page on www.rdek.bc.ca. Residents who would like assistance registering or ensuring their pin has been properly located, can contact the Emergency Public Information line at 250-426-2188 or 1-855-346-2188.
Those requiring support are encouraged to call the BC Crisis Line at 310-6789.