The Pear Lake wildfire has prompted expanded evacuation orders for properties on both sides of Green Lake, north of Clinton, B.C., where officials continue to assess structural damages after the blaze surged a week ago.
Colton Davies, an information officer with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, says rapid damage assessments this week have found dozens of properties affected by the fire, and officials were calling the owners.
He says the assessments took place south of Clinton in the Highway 97 corridor and on Pavilion-Clinton Road to the west of the village.
Davies says crews have not yet been able to assess areas north of the village where officials believe there may be additional losses.
The update comes as the Thompson-Nicola Regional District says more than 500 properties have been added to its evacuation order that now covers almost 1,120 properties, including those on the south side of Green Lake.
The Cariboo Regional District, which has jurisdiction over the north side of Green Lake, has also issued an evacuation order that covers about 366 parcels of land.
Residents of the Green Lake area had been told Thursday that an upgrade from an evacuation alert to an order was a "likely scenario" in the coming days.
The move comes as officials warn that a cold front with gusty winds could fan extreme fire behaviour in areas where blazes are already threatening communities.
Bryce Moreira, an incident commander with the BC Wildfire Service, says the front is expected to move through by Saturday, bringing winds of 30 to 40 kilometres per hour, creating conditions ripe for the rapid spread of fires.
The service says many areas of B.C. are also "extremely dry," especially in the south, with highly flammable fuels increasing the likelihood of new wildfire starts.
Moreira says the days ahead will be critical for firefighters as the winds come from the southwest ahead of the cold front then turn northwest as the front moves past.
The Pear Lake fire has grown to span about 730 square kilometres in the south Cariboo region, one of several fires that make up the Big Bar complex.
Clinton Mayor Roland Stanke says the power is still out in the village and there is no return date for residents as crews are still stomping out flare-ups.
BC Hydro issued an update Thursday saying it was estimating power could be restored in Clinton within about two weeks.
It says about 1,100 customers remain without power in the area, with "significant damage" to electrical infrastructure affecting Clinton, 70 Mile House, parts of the Cache Creek area, Big Bar Lake and the Highway 97 corridor.
Early assessments have identified about 230 damaged or destroyed distribution poles along with 200 transmission poles, the Crown utility says.
It says crews have begun preliminary restoration work in that area along with the Fraser Canyon, where the Brunswick complex of fires has damaged infrastructure.
But ongoing wildfire activity was restricting access to some areas, and there remained "strong potential for additional damage," the statement says.
"Given the scale of the damage, restoring power will require rebuilding large sections of infrastructure, not simply repairing isolated outages," it says.
In the Fraser Canyon, it says about 100 customers remain without power in the Boston Bar, Hell's Gate, China Bar and North End areas.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — BC Wildfire Service
