Smoke from a 5,000 hectare fire near Wapiti Lake can be seen from the Southern Interior.
Image Credit: B.C. Wildfire
July 10, 2014 - 3:03 PM
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Several large fires in the northeastern part of the province are causing a haze across much of the Southern Interior today.
B.C. Wildfire Provincial Fire Information Officer Erin Catherall says most of what we can see is likely from the Prince George Fire Zone where two large fires and several smaller ones are all burning right now.
“Most of what you’re seeing is from there. There’s a lot of fires in the northeastern part of the province, and the North West Territories,” she says. “The bigger contributors are definitely the ones up north.”
Two large fires in that region are currently estimate at over 9,300 hectares combined. One in the Red Deer Creek area near Wapiti Lake grew from 650 ha to an estimated 5,000 ha over the past two days and has caused the evacuation of about 200 people in oil and gas work camps in the area.
B.C. Wildfire crews have also been sent to help battle large fires in the North West Territories.
Both of the larger fires in the Prince George centre are still burning and we can expect to see smoke throughout the region over the next several days.
Currently the Kamloops Fire Centre has seen a lot less action, with only three fires of note over the past two weeks, one near Osoyoos at 15 ha, another near White Lake Obsevatory at 20 ha and an 11.5 ha fire south of Valemount earlier in the month.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014