The fire near Zipzone Peachland on Brenda Mines Road which broke out Saturday, June 27, 2015, is 100 per cent contained. One of the amphibious skimmer aircraft which fought the fire is pictured in this contributed photo.
Image Credit: Contributed/Kevin Bennett
Republished June 27, 2015 - 5:25 PM
Original Publication Date June 27, 2015 - 12:37 PM
PEACHLAND – Wildfire Management threw everything they had at wildfire above Peachland this afternoon and it paid off. The blaze is now 100 per cent contained.
Smoke from the fire near Zipzone Peachland on Brenda Mines Road was spotting at about 11:30 a.m., June 27. It grew to three hectares in size before crews and knocked it down.
Peachland fire crews were the first on the scene, but the blaze was in steep, hard to access terrain, plus it was outside their response area, so Wildfire Management crews took over the battle early on.
Fire information officer Kelsey Winter says the fire was burning in heavy timber close to the ziplines at Zipzone Peachland, adding houses or other structures were threatened.
Kevin Bennett with Zipzone Peachland says their ziplines were unaffected by today’s fire. He says his guests had a ringside seat as Wildfire Management plans zipped overhead.
Winter says now that the fire is completely contained, crews will work to finish building the fire guard and putting out hot spots.
She says at the height of the battle, nine firefighters were on the ground, a tanker group made up of a bird dog aircraft and two tankers worked the fire, along with a skimmer group of four amphibious airplanes.
Winter says the amphibious aircraft scooped water out of Okanagan Lake to drop on the fire.
The fire is believed to be human caused, she says.
Approximate location of wildfire burning near Zipzone Peachland on Brenda Mines Road, Saturday, June 27, 2015.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
— This story was updated at 1:38 p.m., Saturday, June 27, 2015 to add new information from B.C. Wildfire Management.
— This story was updated at 5:24 p.m., Saturday, June 27, 2015 to say the fire was 100 per cent contained.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015