Fire crews said a brush fire next to Highway 97 north of Peachland Wednesday afternoon is not suspicious but said what caused it is not known.
A police officer with the RCMP Central Okanagan Traffic Service discovered the blaze at 4:48 p.m. near the 97C, Highway 97 interchange.
“When crews arrived the fire was a rank two ground fire being pushed by the wind and beginning to climb into the ladder fuels,” Chad Gartrell, West Kelowna’s assistant fire chief said. “Crews were able to extinguish the fire front quickly ensuring the fire remained inside the median between the highway and the off-ramp.”
“Crews remained on scene afterwards to extinguish hot spots and cut a hand guard around the fire perimeter.”
Traffic was reduced to single lane in the northbound lanes, while traffic continued as normal in the southbound lanes near the blaze.
“With the long grasses from last year’s growing season coupled with a few days of warmer weather drying out the finer fuels, we may start to see more fires like these in the valley bottom,” Gartrell said.