20 new Southern Interior wildfires started due to lightning this weekend | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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20 new Southern Interior wildfires started due to lightning this weekend

B.C. Wildfire Service crews on the Maria Creek wildfire, Aug. 13, 2022.
Image Credit: B.C. Wildfire Service

B.C. Wildfire crews are expecting more wildfire activity as they head into the week with increasing temperatures.

Since Friday, Aug. 12, at 11 a.m. there have been 38 new wildfires in the Kamloops Fire Centre, 20 of which have been attributed to lightning, said B.C. Wildfire Service information officer Taylor Colman.

“We definitely are anticipating a ridge moving over the region so increased temperatures will dry out fuels… winds will be light to moderate which won’t drive fire growth too aggressively but it’s still a factor if we see growth on wildfires,” she said.

The new wildfires have remained smaller in size and are burning at higher elevations away from structures and communities, Colman said.

“We’re still catching them when they’re spot-sized.”

On another positive note, two large wildfires, the Watching Creek wildfire, near Kamloops, and the Maria Creek wildfire, near Pavilion, are no longer considered to be “wildfires of note” as they are no longer highly visible or a threat to public safety, she said.

Both fires are being held by wildfire crews, meaning they are not likely to spread further outside of their existing boundaries.

The Keremeos Creek wildfire, burning to the southwest of Penticton, is mapped at 6,948 hectares in size.

A shift in the wind direction means firefighters could see increased wildfire activity today, Aug. 14. The fire is currently stable on the west side of Highway 3A but evacuation orders and alerts for the Apex mountain village and other parts of the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen and Penticton Indian Band remain in place.

READ MORE: Highway 3 fully reopens but wildfire remains out of control


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