FILE PHOTO - BC Wildfire crews are taking advantage of stable weather conditions to do some backburning on the Princeton wildfire, now at 3,000 ha.
(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
July 13, 2017 - 1:19 PM
PENTICTON - Work to fight the Princeton wildfire continues as the weather remains stable in the Similkameen.
B.C. Wildfire says the blaze is 3,000 hectares in size as of this morning, July 13, and is 10 per cent contained. Part of the reason for growth on the fire has been crews conducting back burning operations.
The resources committed to fighting the fire include 155 firefighters, nine helicopters, 19 pieces of heavy equipment, seven water tenders, 28 industry personnel and air tanker support as required.
Fire information officer Marg Drysdale says work continues today to burn off fuel and mop up along the southwest corner of the fire, while machine guards and hose lines are laid around the perimeter of the fire. Crews are concentrating their efforts on building guards closest to structures.
Drysdale says transitioning of the fire management will take place over the next two days as the incident management team hands over the operation to another team from Saskatchewan.
The Regional District says there has been no change to the evacuation orders or alerts since July 10.
For the very latest on evacuation orders and alerts to go the Regional District website.
Residents who are out of town at the moment have been contacting the Regional District to say they are safe, increasing the residents registered at the reception centre in Princeton to 501.
The District says the Princeton-Summerland Road and the Trans Canada Trail near Princeton is closed.
Drive B.C. should be consulted for the status of the highways in the area, including Highway 5A.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2017