Crews still working lightning fire near West Kelowna

WEST KELOWNA – B.C. Wildfire crews are still dealing with a wildfire around 15 kilometres northwest of West Kelowna, but it is being held.

Crews began fighting the lightning-caused fire yesterday, July 9, fire information officer Nicole Bonnett said, after finding their way to it on forest service roads. The Harding Creek fire was formerly called the Jackpine Lake fire.

“They remained on scene until dusk and crews were out again first thing this morning,” she added.

A water tender has also made its way up the Jackpine Forest Service Road, joining the ground crews as they fight the 1.2-hectare fire.

“It didn’t grow overnight and they made good progress in their suppression efforts,” Bonnett said. “It’s a difficult area to access with a lot of deactivated forestry roads.”

A "machine guard" has been dug around the fire, which Bonnett said is “not intensive” at this time.

“I think with the precipitation we’ve had in the last couple of weeks has definitely dampen surface fuels, returned moisture to the ground and slowed things down,” she said.

Two other spot fires in the Central Okanagan reported yesterday were quickly extinguished, Bonnett said; one in the same area as the Harding Creek wildfire and another near Highway 33 beside the Okanagan Falls Forest Service Road east of Kelowna.

To contact a reporter for this story, email John McDonald or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.