A provincial firefighter extinguishes a hot spot of the East Shuswap Road wildfire on July 15, 2018.
Image Credit: TWITTER/@BCGovFireInfo
July 16, 2018 - 11:43 AM
KAMLOOPS - The East Shuswap Road wildfire may be dying down, but smoky skies could still be in the forecast for the South Thompson today.
B.C. Wildfire information officer Marla Catherall says the fire is being held at 545 hectares and fire activity today, July 16, is minimal, although some light winds are in the forecast along with high temperatures.
"Crews are continuing to extinguish hot spots and looking toward containment," Catherall says. "It remains estimated at 545 hectares in size. Because it is classified as being held, we don’t anticipate any further growth."
Conditions were good enough over the weekend for crews to perform controlled burns, which Catherall says helped crews get the upper hand on the blaze.
"Those helped to clear out the gullies and canyons that had a build up of fuels. It was successful."
Fire origin and cause teams are on the scene of the fire to try and determine the cause, but it's too soon to say what exactly caused it.
Although the fire is displaying minimal activity, there is still a special air quality statement for the South Thompson today. Environment Canada says Kamloops and surrounding communities may potentially be impacted by wildfire smoke, which could build up in the Kamloops air shed depending on wind direction
People with pre-existing health conditions, the elderly, infants, children and sensitive individuals are more likely to experience health effects from smoke exposure, Environment Canada says.
For local air quality readings, go here.
The East Shuswap Road wildfire started on Thursday, July 12, and by Friday evening it had ballooned to 500 hectares.
The fast-moving grassfire forced a few evacuations in the East Shuswap Road area on Tk'emlups reserve, but after crews contained an escape from the south on Friday night, residents were allowed home.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2018