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Edgewood taken off evacuation alert

With progress on Mount O’Leary fire, it’s not a threat at this time
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Residents of Edgewood have been taken off evacuation alert.

The Regional District of Central Kootenay says the BC Wildfire Service is making good headway on a fire south of Edgewood that was threatening the community on the west shore of Arrow Lake late last week. The evacuation alert was put in place on Aug. 23.

“On behalf of the RDCK emergency operations centre, I’d like to thank everyone who has been living with this alert for their patience over the past week,” said Chris Johnson, the RDCK emergency operations centre director. “Thankfully, at this time, the threat to people and structures has diminished.”

The Mt. O’Leary wildfire was discovered on Aug. 12, and is an estimated 744 hectares. According to the BC Wildfire Service, the fire remains out of control and firefighters will continue to prioritize suppression efforts on this incident; however, the threat of the fire to spread north across Worthington Creek towards Edgewood is no longer an immediate threat.

The evacuation alert was issued as a precaution. The alert affected the area north of Worthington Creek, all of Edgewood and the south portion of Needles, along Inonoaklin Valley Road up to south of Robinson Road, including Lower Inonoaklin Road.

The Wildfire Service will hold a public meeting at the Edgewood Legion on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

All other current evacuation alerts and orders remain in effect. Updates will be provided via the RDCK website, Facebook and Twitter as more information becomes available.