iN PHOTOS: B.C. wildfire rips through Ashcroft mobile home park

CACHE CREEK – The Ashcroft Reserve wildfire has left total destruction behind in the Boston Flats Community Estates trailer park. 

The mobile home park between Cache Creek and Ashcroft is reduced to charred rubble with burned out vehicles and only a few structures still standing.

RCMP are stopping traffic from entering Cache Creek and the only motorists travelling the deserted roads have police escorts.

B.C. Wildfire information officer Mike McCulley says it's hard to pinpoint, but the fire likely tore through the Boston Flats trailer park late Thursday, July 6 or early Friday morning, July 7.

He says the fire spread over several kilometres in a matter of hours because of aggressive winds and volatile fire fuels in the area.

The Sage & Sands trailer park was spared, but some homes, patches of sagebrush and areas of the road are coated in bright red fire retardant.

McCulley says there are more than 120 ground crew members working on the more than 10,000 hectare Ashcroft Reserve wildfire today, July 11, and more will arrive tonight.

Bringing wildfire evacuees back home is more work than you might think. Kim Anderson

Fire retardant coats much of the landscape in Cache Creek from the Ashcroft Reserve Fire. | Photographer: Kim Anderson

The Boston Flats trailer park was reduced to rubble after the Ashcroft Reserve fire last summer. FILE PHOTO

No one was allowed into the Boston Flats trailer park after the Cache Creek Reserve fire. An RCMP road block is pictured in this photo taken on July 11, 2017. Kim Anderson

Photographer: Kim Anderson

What remains of the Boston Flats trailer park in Ashcroft after a wildfire ripped through it. Kim Anderson

Rubble and ash can be seen in the Boston Flats trailer park on July 11, 2017 after the Elephant Hill fire tore through it. Kim Anderson

The damage done to the Boston Flats Community Estates trailer park, between Cache Creek and Ashcroft, by the Elephant Hill wildfire is seen in this July 11, 2017 photo. FILE PHOTO

B.C. Wildfire crews are working with B.C. Hydro to address downed power lines in the Cache Creek area. | Photographer: Kim Anderson

No one is allowed to access the Boston Flats trailer park. Photographer: Kim Anderson

Photographer: Kim Anderson

FILE PHOTO – The Boston Flats trailer park is damaged and charred after the Ashcroft Reserve Fire ripped through it more than one week ago. Many people were displaced and have been staying at evacuation centres in Kamloops. Kim Anderson

Photographer: Kim Anderson

Photographer: Kim Anderson

Photographer: Kim Anderson

FILE PHOTO – Large areas of the sagebrush are covered in fire retardant in Cache Creek, July 11, 2017. Kim Anderson

Cache Creek mayor John Ranta stands in front of the Boston Flats trailer park on July 11, 2017. | Photographer: Kim Anderson

United Way BC worked in conjunction with community partners to provide blankets to wildfire evacuees at a group lodging facility in Kelowna, BC, on August 18, 2023., FILE PHOTO Credit: United Way Photographer: Kim Anderson

Several helicopters were in operation near the Boston Flats trailer park. | Photographer: Kim Anderson

Smoke from the Ashcroft Reserve fire has contributed to very poor air quality in Kamloops and surrounding areas. Kim Anderson


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Kim Anderson

Originally from a northern B.C. town that boasts a giant fly fishing rod and a population of 3,100, Kim moved to Kamloops in 2011 to attend Thompson Rivers University. Kim is as comfortable behind a camera as she is writing on her laptop. After graduating with a degree in journalism, Kim has been busy with an independent freelance writing project and photography work. Contact Kim at kanderson@infonews.ca with news tips or story ideas.

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