Triggered by an accident involving a Hydro pole and sparkling power lines at 10:30am on Highway 97A 2 mi south of Sicamous, dry underbrush caught fire and quickly burned its way up the steep, wooded mountain slope. Despite a quick fire department response the inaccessible terrain quickly burned out of control and shifting winds started to push the fire slowly toward Sicamous.

5 helicopters arrived quickly trying to contain the fire until late in the afternoon. Furthermore, 2 large water bombers assisted those efforts but could not stop the fire from growing in size.

Therefore, an evacuation order was issued for the area between the 2-mile subdivision and the southern half of Sicamous. The northern half of Sicamous has been placed under evacuation alert. The fire fighting effort will continue by daylight in the morning.

Evacuee registration and assistance is available online at https://ess.gov.bc.ca. The Sicamous Evacuation Centre is located at 1091 Shuswap Ave.