An aircraft is seen fighting a wildfire near Horseshoe Bay in the North Shuswap, May 1, 2022, as the B.C. Wildfire Service tries to bring the 18-hectare blaze under control.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Robert Peters

A North Shuswap wildfire is now being held after the B.C. Wildfire Service sent more ground crews to help with the 18.5 hectare blaze today.

The blaze near Horseshoe Bay on Shuswap Lake grew slightly before nightfall yesterday as it moved up steep terrain. This afternoon, May 2, it was reclassified as being held and has not grown any further.

Fire information officer Shaylee Stearns couldn't say exactly how many people were added to the fight today, but it appears their efforts kept it from growing any further.

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A line of fire retardant helped suppress growth further up the mountain yesterday, while helicopters bucketed water and carried in equipment for the 20 wildfire personnel on the ground, who are getting help from the Anglemont Fire Department, Stearns said.

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The Horseshoe Bay wildfire is currently the largest in the Kamloops Fire Centre and is the only one that is out of control.

Closer to Kamloops, there are currently several more spot fires in various stages of control. Four are southeast of the city near the Monte Lake and Westwold area, where much of the surrounding area was scorched by last year's White Rock Lake wildfire. Of the wildfires currently near Kamloops, all of them are less than a hectare in size, including another small fire near Savona, which is currently under control.

Near Clearwater, another wildfire sparked and has reached roughly 2.5 hectares in size so far, according to the wildfire service.

The Kamloops Fire Centre currently has the majority of the wildfires in the province, with ten active blazes as of today, May 2. Most of them are suspected to be human-caused.

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— This story was updated with new information from the B.C. Wildfire Service at 5:06 p.m., May 2, 2022.

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