More than 100 people trapped by B.C. wildfire successfully rescued, officials say

More than 100 people have been rescued after being stranded in a guesthouse about 100 kilometres south of Kelowna and west of Keremeos in B.C.'s southern Interior, with their only way out cut off by a wildfire.

Brittany Seibert, an emergency program co-ordinator with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS), said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that campers and guests who congregated at the Cathedral Lakes Lodge, one of the properties under evacuation order due to the Crater Creek wildfire, were convoyed out of the building.

She said a route out of the park was cleared by wildfire service staff Wednesday, and a convoy carrying the campers left around 1 p.m. She said the district is aware of one person who was hiking in the area, and search and rescue is actively working to bring them to safety.

"We have worked very diligently on that today, and we're feeling quite confident we have managed to identify and notify and get people out,'' Seibert said.

The Crater Creek wildfire, a combination of two previously separate wildfires, including the Gillanders Creek wildfire, grew tenfold overnight from approximately 12 square kilometres on Tuesday evening to 100 square kilometres Wednesday morning. It is now classified as a "wildfire of note," meaning the blaze is highly visible or poses a potential threat to public safety.

Situated west of Keremeos about 130 kilometres south of Kelowna and near the Canada-U.S. border, the Gillanders Creek and Crater Creek wildfires prompted the RDOS to declare an evacuation order around 10 p.m. PT on Tuesday for about a dozen properties, along the Ashnola River within Cathedral Provincial Park.

These properties, including the privately-run Cathedral Lakes Lodge near Quiniscoe Lake, were placed under evacuation order just five hours after being put on evacuation alert.

On Tuesday evening, around 11:30 p.m., the district issued another evacuation alert on 74 more properties west of Keremeos due to the wildfires.

An evacuation alert advises residents to prepare for possible evacuation with little notice, while an evacuation order requires immediate departure.

Emma Roberts, who was staying with a friend at Cathedral Lakes Lodge, approximately 30 kilometres southwest of Keremeos, says they were unable to leave due to the wildfire blocking the only access road connecting the guesthouse to Ashnola River Road, which leads to Keremeos.

Roberts says the lodge provided shelter for about 150 people, including lodge guests and campers from nearby campgrounds, as they awaited evacuation by the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS).

"There were definitely some nerves for everyone and a little bit of anxiety. There were other people that had intended to come back down the mountain yesterday and did not intend to remain up the mountain," she said Wednesday afternoon after being evacuated.

"Everybody really did support one another, and the lodge brought everybody together as well and pulled in the campers and made sure everyone was safe and comfortable and fed."

Dale Bojahra, a co-ordination officer with the BCWS, said the "dramatic increase in fire behaviour" of the Crater Creek and Gillanders Creek wildfires Tuesday evening explained why the agency had recommended to RDOS that sheltering in a place like the Cathedral Lakes Lodge was the best option for people trapped while an evacuation plan was being formed.