Crews busy fighting several fires across the province
Posted June 27, 2017 4:31 pm.
Last Updated June 27, 2017 4:37 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CASTLEGAR (NEWS 1130) – Fire crews are responding to several wildfires in southeastern British Columbia, many of which have been started by lightning.
Max Birkner, with the Kamloops Fire Centre, says no homes are threatened by two fires now burning out of control in that region.
“One is the Dewdrop fire which is 12 kilometres west of Kamloops and it is 260 hectares in size. And we also have a developing situation down in Cawston. That is a fire near the town of Cawston and it is 30 hectares in size.”
The Cawston fire, east of Keremeos in the south Similkameen Valley, was spotted earlier today. No word yet how it was sparked.
The Dewdrop fire started June 16th, but Birkner says it grew yesterday when strong winds blew it out of control.
BC Wildfire Service firefighters are also at a blaze about 12 kilometres southwest of Nakusp, near Saddle Bay. Another fire is about seven kilometres northeast of Nakusp near Mount Jordan and another is about three kilometres northeast of New Denver.
There is a small, one-hectare wildfire near Blueberry Creek, about seven kilometres southwest of Castlegar.
Three small fires were sparked by lightning in the Kootenay Lake Fire Zone on Monday. One is near Trout Lake, another is northwest of Queens Bay and the other is northwest of Blake.
A 30-hectare wildfire was discovered near Bull River, about 24 kilometres northwest of Fernie, on Sunday. There were no lightning strikes in the area when this fire started and the cause is currently under investigation.
Since April, the Southeast Fire Centre has responded to 26 wildfires that have burned 39 hectares. Thirteen of these fires were caused by lightning, while the remaining 26 were human-caused. Last year on this day, a total of 37 fires had burned 312 hectares.
