Wind expected to pick up near wildfire in Kamloops area
Posted July 13, 2018 7:13 am.
Last Updated July 13, 2018 8:42 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
KAMLOOPS (NEWS 1130) – Wildfire season is ramping up. The weather is expected to turn against crews battling a large blaze that exploded yesterday near Kamloops.
The K21128 fire is north of Shuswap Rd and east of Highway 5 and is now about 500 hectares. Tinder-dry grass provided fuel for the blaze yesterday while wind could fan the flames today.
“It has been dry of late across parts of the BC Southern Interior and it has been warming up. Now the real troublesome part of this short-range forecast is the wind, westerlies ramping up to 50 or 70 kilometres per hour later this afternoon into this evening. That could further fan the flames of the existing wildfires and we’re getting no assistance from Mother Nature as far as lowering that overall forest fire danger rating for the foreseeable future,” says NEWS 1130 meteorologist Russ Lacate.
“Dry conditions coupled with warm, sunny weather continue to enhance the forest fire danger rating across the South Thompson and neighbouring districts heading into this weekend. At least there are no thunderstorms in the forecast at all. But there’s a risk of strong winds gusting up to 70 kilometres an hour late today and then a longer-range heating cycle as the temperature gradually climbs into the upper 30s by the end of next week.”
The B.C. Wildfire Service had 49 firefighters, air tankers and helicopters battling the flames as of last night.
The fire jumped from 20 to 200 hectares in just a few hours yesterday. That forced the temporary evacuation of six homes in the area, although they were canceled shortly after they were issued.
Even if the flames aren’t an immediate concern for some, the smoke could be says Lacate.
“There’s already a Special Air Quality Advisory (Smoky Skies Bulletin) in effect for the South Thompson region, due to the wildfire smoke impacting Kamloops and the neighbouring communities. We’ve got very strong westerly winds associated with a hard-charging front this afternoon, gusting to 50 or 70 kilometres an hour so it’s going to help clear the air. But at the same time, again, that wind could fan the flames of the existing fires of the North Thompson River heading into the weekend.”
Environment Canada cautions the Okanagan Valley, West Columbia, Shuswap and Nicola districts could all see strong wind over the weekend as well.
