Firefighters are working to put out brush fire in Kamloops.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Stephanie Carter

Kamloops fire crews got a fast-moving grassfire under control as it nearly spread toward multiple West End homes.

The blaze broke out earlier around 2:30 p.m., April 19, at the end of St. Paul Street West.

Kamloops Fire Rescue chief Ken Uzeloc said the multiple crews that responded were able to stop the fire spreading across the dry hillside before it reached nearby homes. As of 4 p.m., the fire was under control, but crews were still putting out hot spots on the slope.

A nearby resident said the flames were as high as the power lines at one point as it burned electrical equipment and cut power for thousands in the area.

The wooded area is often a place homeless people congregate, according to another neighbour. She couldn't say whether there's currently a camp there.

It was too early for Uzeloc to say what might have caused the fire, but he said the dry conditions leave a grassy hillside like that especially vulnerable to a fire right now.

"The only thing that's helping us is the temperature dropping overnight," he said. "It would be really great to have some rainfall."

The fire took out power for more than 3,800 BC Hydro customers around 2:40 p.m., according to the utility's website.

Uzeloc couldn't say whether hydro crews were able to yet get to the electrical utilities and repair the damage, but it did warn firefighters to be careful as there are downed lines in the area.

BC Hydro has assigned a crew to the outage, but it's not clear when power will return.

RCMP were on the scene and secured a perimeter around the fire in the West End neighbourhood as firefighters tackled the blaze.

Kamloops has seen a series of suspicious fires in the past few weeks, which all sparked in shrubs and treed areas in different areas of the city starting earlier this month.

Kamloops fire crews are on the scene of brush fire this afternoon, Wednesday, April 19, 2023.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Laurie Patmore

— This story has been updated with more information from the scene, BC Hydro and Kamloops Fire Rescue.

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