BC Wildfire Service crews are helping Merritt-area firefighters with a large grass fire that has broken out northwest of the Nicola Valley city.
The fire, which is on the Lower Nicola Indian Band (LNIB) reserve, is about 10 acres in size, according to Chief Aaron Sumexheltza.
He said residents were surprised to see fire activity already, given that spring has just started.
“It’s just a wake up call and moving forward, we need to make sure as a community — and here in the Interior — that we do everything we can to prevent these kind of fires,” Sumexheltza said.
The BC Wildfire Service said the fire was located near the intersection of Highway 97C and Highway 8, and that it had dispatched a crew of four to help the LNIB fire department.
The fire was mainly smouldering on the ground, and wasn’t threatening any buildings, the service said.
“This is a good reminder that this is grass fire season in B.C., the snow has melted in many areas and the grass still dead and dry and very combustible. We don’t want people getting careless just because of the time of year,”BC Wildfire Service spokesperson Kevin Skrepnek said in an email.
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It’s not the first sign that B.C.’s wildfire season could be sparking up early.
Last week, on the first day of spring, a four-hectare fire broke out a few kilometres northwest of Lytton.
That fire is believed to have been human caused.
Last week, officials unveiled stiff new penalties to help curb human-caused wildfires.
Those penalties include fines of $1,150 for failing to follow orders around restricted areas or activities, new requirements and penalties around the proper use of off-road vehicles (including jail time and fines of up to $1 million for operators found to have started a fire) and new penalties of up to $100,000 for utilities that start fires.
The 2017 fire season was record-breaking. A larger area burned in the province than in any other year since record-keeping began in 1950.
- With files from Megan Turcato and Estefania Duran
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