Forestry crew mopping up wildfire near Okanagan Connector
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – A human-caused wildfire sparked south of the Okanagan Connector Saturday afternoon is being mopped up by a Wildfire Management crew today.
Fire information officer Kayla Pepper says an initial attack crew of 13 firefighters responded to the blaze which grew to 11-hectares in size near Starshine Way Road, north of Missezula Lake yesterday afternoon, April 11.
“Nine firefighters have returned today to mop it up,” she says. “The fire is suspected to be human-caused.”
Pepper says it’s another indicator of just how dry it is in parts of the province.
“If anyone is planning to do any open burning please take all precautions,” she says. “Be cognizant of the wind conditions and the fuel type you are burning around. If it’s dry out there or windy maybe rethink lighting up any open burning.”
Pepper isn’t sure if the Missezula Lake fire was the result of open burning.
Currently there are no open burning prohibitions in place in the Thompson-Okanagan region.
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To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca or call 250-491-0331. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
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2 responses
It is unbelievable that people will take a chance at lighting an open fire with the winds that have been so predominant lately in this part of our Province. Too bad we don’t have heavier penalties for such carelessness, it need not be deliberate to be disastrous as most of us know.
Snow falling on the Coq. and fire on the connector————- WHAT?