
Fire as seen on Canada Day burning southeast of Chase near and inside parts of Neskonlith IR 2/via Andrew Humphries on Facebook
A piece of good news coming from a fire in the Shuswap which has forced dozens of members of the Neskonlith Indian Band from their homes.
“We had crews fighting on it all night and putting out spot fires,” said Irvin Wai, Kukpi7 Irvin Wai told Radio NL around the noon-hour on Monday. “It’s burning away from areas of our [Band] membership at the moment.”
Wai says no homes or other structures are in a direct line of danger from the fire but suggests their confidence in that will be dependent on what happens with the weather.
“We’re doing everything to protect all critical infrastructure in our community. That’s first and foremost,” added Wai. “The only thing that really could impact us is if the wind changes.”
The high-pressure system which is bringing the higher temperatures and drier conditions is also expected to hold over the region at least through Wednesday, meaning there shouldn’t be any major increase in wind speeds.
The BC Wildfire Service puts the Mount Scatchard fire at 35 hectares as of a late-Monday morning update.
That’s the same size the fire was estimated before the end of day Monday.
- Two helicopters attack the Mount Scatchard fire south of Chase on Tuesday/via Andrew Humphry
- Mount Scatchard fire as seen in its early stages on Monday afternoon/via BC Wildfire Service
- Fire heat plume seen by NASA satellite coming from the fire south of Chase/via NASA
Despite the headway being made, the fire has forced 87 Neskonlith Band members out of their homes, with Wai saying they’re being accommodated in hotels and motels in Kamloops, Chase and Salmon Arm, as well as with friends and family.
It remains unclear as to when the Band may be able to rescind its evacuation order, which it put in place at 1pm on Monday.
“We can still see the monster just up the hill,” Wai told Radio NL. “We have to be very cognizant of that.”
Highway travel along the TransCanada through the area is being allowed.
However, drivers are being warned of possible delays.

Notification from DriveBC as of 12:30pm Tuesday. Expect updates in early evening/via DriveBC
The Village of Chase says it’s also keeping watch on the situation, noting there are no alerts or evacuation order in that community.
The Thompson Nicola Regional District is still maintaining an evacuation alert for 9 properties in the area.
At this point a definitive cause of the fire has not been determined.
However, reports at the time suggested a truck carrying a load of hay caught fire, setting off the blaze.

Forecast for Chase area/via Environment Canada