The White Rock Lake fire was a wildfire in

Thompson-Nicola Regional District The Thompson–Nicola Regional District is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Canada 2021 Census population was 143,680 and the area covers 44,449.49 square kilometres. The administrative offices are in the mai ...

, British Columbia. It began July 13, 2021 as one of the 2021 B.C. wildfires and resulted in the destruction of

Monte Lake Monte Lake is a small lake in southern British Columbia, Canada, between Kamloops and Vernon. The lake is adjacent to British Columbia Highway 97 in the valley connecting Falkland to the South Thompson Country at Monte Creek where that highwa ...

. It totalled 83,047 hectares and was classified as out of control. Insured losses total an estimated $77 million Canadian Dollars, according to one agency, which in late September expected the number of claims to top 800, most of them related to residential property.

Start and spread

The White Rock Lake wildfire started during the

2021 Western North America heat wave The 2021 Western North America heat wave was an extreme heat wave that affected much of Western North America from late June through mid-July 2021. Rapid attribution analysis found this was a 1000-year weather event, made 150 times more likely ...

. It was caused by lightning and first sighted July 13, 2021, when it was 10 hectares in size. It was reported at 3:46 p.m. and response began 30 minutes later, according to the Forests ministry. By August 5 the fire covered 32,500 hectares between

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

and Vernon, and the hamlet of Monte Lake was evacuated. The fire resulted in the destruction of at least 28 residences and one business there. By August 6 the fire reached 55,000 hectares and evacuation alerts were issued for the cities of Vernon and

Armstrong Armstrong may refer to: Places * Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places Antarctica * Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands Argentina * Armstrong, Santa Fe Australia * Armstrong, Victoria Canada * Armstrong, British Columbia * Armstrong ...

, as well as the village of

Chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase Co ...

. By September 12 the fire covered 833 km². "Thousands" were evacuated and over 2,000 properties were under an evacuation order. The fire damaged approximately 70 properties in the Ewings Landing and Killiney areas. The

Okanagan Indian Band The Okanagan Indian Band ( oka, N̓k̓maplqs) is a First Nations government in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located in the city of Vernon in the northern Okanagan Valley. The band is a member government of the Okanagan Nation Allian ...

also reported 10 homes and one business destroyed. On August 14 Monte Lake residents were permitted to return to the community. Although fire officials had previously declared it under control, in September they downgraded its status to "held" and said that it might continue to burn all winter:

Criticism of response

Kamloops-South Thompson Kamloops-South Thompson is a provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, established by the '' Electoral Districts Act, 2008''. It was first contested in the 2009 general election. Geography As of the 2020 provincial election, ...

MLA

Todd Stone Todd Graham Stone (born 1972) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2013 provincial election. He represents the electoral district of Kamloops-South Thompson as a member of the British ...

called for a public inquiry into the provincial response, charging policy "is what causes these fires to get out of control". ''

Kamloops This Week ''Kamloops This Week'' is a local newspaper in Kamloops, British Columbia, founded in 1988. The newspaper has won numerous awards. Published Wednesdays only due to COVID-19. See also *List of newspapers in Canada This list of newspapers in Ca ...

'' reported residents at the outset of the fire "claim they felt abandoned or say they were told to leave when trying to help". Deputy Forests Minister Rick Manwaring responded that the fire received response immediately after it was initially spotted. At another press conference, Mainwaring, asked about climate change, said that the BC Wildfire Service already allocates resources differently since the Chapman Report, issued in 2017. Many of its recommendations, he said, addressed changing conditions and climate change.

References

{{Wildfires in British Columbia 2021 wildfires in Canada 2021 in British Columbia July 2021 events in Canada Thompson Country