The B-C Wildfire Service says the blaze that destroyed many properties around Monte Lake southwest of Kamloops grew dramatically overnight.
The White Rock Lake fire is now estimated at 450-square kilometres — an increase of 125 square kilometres since it was last measured — and winds are pushing the eastern and northeastern flanks of the blaze.
An evacuation alert has been issued for the Village of Chase at the south end of Little Shuswap Lake and several communities between Monte Lake and Chase are on evacuation order — including Pritchard and Monte Creek, while residents of Falkland, east of Monte Lake, have also been ordered out.
Thompson-Nicola Regional District chair Ken Gillis says he was told the fire is so aggressive it burned through more than 18 kilometres in just eight hours.
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