Hullcar Mountain wildfire in North Okanagan now held

Just one week after it started, the largest wildfire burning in the North Okanagan is now classified as held.

“With significant effort from resources assigned to the Hullcar Mountain wildfire, located approximately 13 kilometres northwest of Armstrong, this fire is now classified as being held and it will no longer be classified as a Wildfire of Note,” BC wildfire said in a Monday morning post.

“This means that based on fuel and weather conditions with the assigned resources, this wildfire is not expected to grow beyond the current fire perimeter.”

2:19 Hullcar Mountain wildfire saw minimal growth overnight but continues to burn out of control

The fire grew in size from 784 hectares from 716 hectares over the weekend, which was attributed to a planned ignition operation on Saturday. The increase was not due to natural growth, the wildfire service said.

That said, BC Wildfire is also warning residents living near the blaze that they can expect to see intermittment smoke until the fire is classified as out.  “(The) fire finds pockets of unburnt fuel from within the perimeter at high elevation.”

The fire was discovered on Aug. 4 and is believed to be caused by lightning.