The Bush Creek East fire was a wildfire in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The fire caused a major loss of structures and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents. The communities of Squilax, Lee Creek, Adams Lake, Scotch Creek, and Celista were heavily impacted by the fire. The fire was listed as "being held" in September 2023 at a size of 45,613 hectares (112,710 acres), and was declared out in December of 2023.[1]
| Bush Creek East Part of the 2023 Canada wildfires | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date(s) | July 12, 2023 – December 13, 2023 |
| Location | Adams Lake and Shuswap Lake |
| Statistics | |
| Total area | 45,613 hectares (112,710 acres) |
| Impacts | |
| Evacuated | 3500 properties |
| Structures destroyed | 270 |
| Damage | 240,000,000 CAD |
| Ignition | |
| Cause | Lightning |
| Map | |
 Perimeter of the Bush Creek East fire (map data) | |
Background
editWestern Canada has seen a climate change-induced warming and drying trend since the mid-2000s. The province of B.C. experienced major fire seasons in 2017, 2018, and 2021, with burned areas far exceeding yearly averages.[2] Much of the province went into 2023 in drought conditions made worse by a hot, dry fall season in 2022 and lower than average snowfall over the winter. The Shuswap and Okanagan regions saw average temperatures of 2 degrees Celsius above normal during the summer, with extremely low amounts of precipitation.[3]
Ignition
editThe conflagration started as two separate fires, first detected on July 12, 2023. The first, Bush Creek East, started on a ridge near Bush Creek between Adams Lake and Sun Peaks to the west. The second, called Lower Adams Lake East, started on the steep eastern shores of Adams Lake. Both were assessed to by caused by lightning, the result of a series of thunderstorms that passed over the area on July 11 and 12.[4]
Spread and structure loss
edit
The two fires experienced moderate spread for over a month, before spreading rapidly on August 19 and 20. A cold front caused strong 40 km/h winds from the north, causing a massive fire expansion. BC Wildfire officers reported a 20 km growth of the perimeter in 12 hours, a rate of growth "unheard of in B.C. wildfire activity".[5] The expanded fire destroyed 270 structures in the North Shuswap area, with severe damages to the Little Shuswap Band, Scotch Creek, and Celista communities.[6] 3500 properties were placed under evacuation orders.[6] 174 buildings were lost in the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District, 9 in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, and 85 in the Skwlax First Nation.[7] The fire caused over 240 million Canadian dollars in insured damage.[6]
References
edit- ^ "Bush Creek East". wildfiresituation.nrs.gov.bc.ca. BC Wildfire Service. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
- ^ Parisien, Marc-André; Barber, Quinn E.; Bourbonnais, Mathieu L.; Daniels, Lori D.; Flannigan, Mike D.; Gray, Robert W.; Hoffman, Kira M.; Jain, Piyush; Stephens, Scott L.; Taylor, Steve W.; Whitman, Ellen (2023-09-05). "Abrupt, climate-induced increase in wildfires in British Columbia since the mid-2000s". Communications Earth & Environment. 4 (1): 309. Bibcode:2023ComEE...4..309P. doi:10.1038/s43247-023-00977-1. ISSN 2662-4435.
- ^ Lockhart, Logan (2023-09-05). "Drought and heat make for 'very long summer' in the Okanagan-Shuswap - Salmon Arm Observer". www.saobserver.net. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
- ^ Labere, Lachlan (2023-09-25). "Shuswap's Bush Creek East wildfire 'being held'". Salmon Arm Observer. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
- ^ Matassa-Fung, Darrian. "Wildfire near Shuswap Lake runs 20 km in 12 hours, new order issued Saturday afternoon | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
- ^ a b c "Okanagan and Shuswap area wildfires cause over $720 million in insured damage". www.ibc.ca. Insurance Bureau of Canada. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ Dawson, Josh; Manchester, Jon. "New count pegs estimated number of buildings destroyed by Shuswap blaze at 270 - Salmon Arm News". www.castanet.net. Retrieved 2023-09-29.