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Kamloops News

More fires following lightning storm Friday

This map shows lightning strikes Thursday night and Friday morning. Many more were recorded Friday through Saturday morning.
Image Credit: B.C. Wildfire via Facebook

KAMLOOPS - There were 22 new fires in the region Friday following a storm system that hit the area in the afternoon and well into the night.

B.C. Wildfire information officer Michaela Swan says while most were spot fires from lightning, there is an 8 hectare fire near Pyramid Falls north of Blue River that is causing concern right now. The area received little or no rain and has very heavy fuel, Swan says, and crews continue to monitor the fire closely.

Tankers are being used to lay retardant to keep the fires in check until attack crews can make it to the site.

Meanwhile, B.C. wildfire crews are busy with the 21 other fires and are prioritizing which to tackle first.

While the new fires are scattered throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre, many are west and north of Kamloops, specifically between Cache Creek and Lillooet. The highest concentration of new fire starts is near Ashcroft.

A fire in Peterson Creek Park in Kamloops Friday required helicopter assistance to knock down the small, stubborn blaze. Lightning has not yet been confirmed, nor ruled out, as the cause of that fire.

Thursday night saw a storm that with hundreds of lightning strikes across the Thompson-Okanagan. Numberous fires were sparked with a large concentration in the Naramata and Peachland areas in the south Okanagan.

The Kamloops Fire Centre has responded to more than 200 fires this year.

To contact a reporter for this story, email jstahn@infotelnews.ca, call (250)819-3723 or tweet @JennStahn.

News from © iNFOnews, 2013
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