One road in, one road out: Authorities mull potential mass evacuation in North Shuswap

SCOTCH CREEK, B.C. — The Columbia-Shuswap Regional District issued an Evacuation Alert for the Lee Creek and Scotch Creek areas — the first time this season.

According to the B.C. Wildfire Service, there has been an increased in fire activity in the Lower East Adams Lake wildfire due to strong winds and high temperatures in the region.

“The next two or three days will be pretty challenging in terms of different wind speed and direction, so that will really dictate the further grow of the Lower East Adams Lake fire,” said Forrest Tower, Fire Information Officer.

Authorities are now faced with another challenge — there is only one road in and out of the North Shuswap. If the fire continues to move south and evacuation orders are expanded, that could become an issue.

“We would be making every effort to work in coordination with local authorities responsible for that, just to ensure it is orderly and there isn’t panic as much as possible,” Tower explained.

Tower said this is the time for both personal and property preparedness so, if the time comes, everyone can have an orderly evacuation.