UPDATE: Peterson Creek Park fire turned over to city crews | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Kamloops News

UPDATE: Peterson Creek Park fire turned over to city crews

KAMLOOPS -- B.C. Wildfire crews were on scene of the stubborn Peterson Creek Park fire until just after 9 p.m. Friday before turning the blaze over to the Kamloops Fire Department, who putting out hot spots on a steep rocky slope Saturday morning.

Michaela Swan with B.C. Wildfire service says the fire never got very big, just 10 m by 30 m in size, but she admits it's closer to residential areas than they'd like.

The fire was called in around 5 p.m. on Friday and quickly had two forestry helicopters bucketing while ground crews tried to figure out how to get to the blaze. City crews weren't able to get a bush truck into the area, so they had to fight the fire with hand tools. A short while later, one of the helicopters and one of the ground crews were sent to assist with spot fires near Ashcroft that cropped up during a lightning storm in the area.

As of 5:30 p.m., the fire started making its way into trees and heavier fuel. Using Gambles Pond at McGowan Park as the source of water the helicopter made quick work of refilling and returning to the fire. After more than an hour of bucketing, at 6:40 p.m. it appeared crews appear to have gotten most of it, but for a few trouble spots creeping toward more trees.

Swan says they are still unsure what caused the fire but are looking at the possibility of lightning as the cause.

"It's under investigation, but there was certainly lightning in the area," Swan says. "It's not confirmed, but we haven't ruled out lightning."

To contact a reporter for this story, email jstahn@infotelnews.ca, call (250)819-3723 or tweet @JennStahn.

—last edited 10:38 a.m. Aug. 3, 2013

News from © iNFOnews, 2013
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