On Sunday, air crews fought fire with fire, merging the Mt. Eneas and Monroe Creek wildfires near Peachland.
Incident Commander Glen Burgess said the decision to conduct a controlled burn and connect the fires was made for safety reasons, with temperatures forecast to soar in the coming days.
“We had a piece of unburned fuel between two fires and the objective was to remove that fuel in a controlled circumstance at our timing when the weather was cooperating,” Glen Burgess of the B.C. Wildfire Service said Sunday.
“By doing that, we can have an increased level of control.”
WATCH: Okanagan wildfire helicopter tour
Crews merged the fires by dropping thousands of little ping-pong-ball-like explosives timed to ignite on the forest floor.
During a methodical sweep of the hillside, crews burned off the dry undergrowth that can ignite easily and spread quickly.
“We wanted to join the two fires just to make it easier for ground crews to work,” George Campbell of the B.C. Wildfire Service said.
Viewing the slope from the air, Campbell described it as “a very successful burn.”
“We took the opportunity yesterday, because the weather was favourable for us,” Campbell said, “and the fire did exactly what we expected it to do.”
The B.C. Wildfire Service confirmed 112 firefighters were still actively combating the fire as of Monday afternoon.
— With files from Jules Knox and The Canadian Press
Comments