UPDATE: Chute Lake wildfire contained | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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UPDATE: Chute Lake wildfire contained

A fire near Chute Lake has grown in size since being photographed earlier Friday afternoon. The blaze is now 1.9 hectares in area. BC Wildfire is responding.
Image Credit: Source/BC Wildfire

UPDATE: 12:10 p.m. July 20, 2013

KELOWNA/PENTICTON - The only wildfire burning in the Kamloops Fire Centre is under control.

Fire Information Officer Michaela Swan says the 1.9 hectare fire east of Chute Lake is 100% contained and fully guarded.

“We do suspect it is a lightning caused fire from the thunderstorm that moved through the region earlier in the week,” says Swan

She anticipates there will be more wildfires flaring up over the next week due to lightning strikes from that same storm.

“Especially when lightning comes with rain… the lightning will ignite a fire and the rain will sort of snuff it out. That fire will stay smoldering until the conditions warm up again and the fuels dry out.”

There are 22 fire fighters still on the scene today. They also have two pieces of heavy equipment. The crew is working on pulling apart all the heavy fuel accumulation.

“Because the fire is burning in logging slash it’s going to take some time for us to pull those apart and get water to the hotspots,” says Swan.

There fire is a long ways from any buildings and structures. It’s quite remote. There is a logging road crews cleaned up with a bulldozer on so they could get in and out of the area.

The fire danger rating in the Okanagan is moderate, but on the rise as the sun and heat dry out the forests.

If you see a wildfire call *5555 on your mobile phone to alert B.C. Wildfire Management.

 

10:16 a.m. July 20, 2013

PENTICTON/KELOWNA - Lightning is suspected to have started a small wildfire currently burning six kilometres east of Chute Lake.

There are no cabins, homes or other developments near the 1.9 hectare fire, B.C. Wildfire communications officer Michaela Swan said. The blaze is in the middle of a logging-slash area and 20 kilometres north-east of Penticton and 24 kilometres south-east of Kelowna.

B.C. Wildfire responded shortly around 2 p.m. with several waterbomber dropping fire retardant chemicals. There are now seven firefighters at the scene with three helicopters ferrying water to dump on the flames. A bulldozer is being used to access the fire and to shift the large amount of trees lying on the ground.

To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065 or tweet @shannonquesnel1 

News from © iNFOnews, 2013
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