Okanagan Falls wildfire in mop-up stage

The Okanagan Falls wildfire that sparked to life on Friday afternoon has been contained and is now in the mop-up stage.

At one point, the sudden blaze forced the closure of Highway 97 in both directions. The fire was located on the west side of the highway, in hilly terrain, and somewhat near the downtown core, approximately 400 metres from the bridge that spans Skaha Lake channel into Okanagan Falls.

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“We got it under control (Friday night) and now we’re mopping up,” said Okanagan Falls fire chief Rob Oliver. “We hope to be out of there around noon (on Saturday).”

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Oliver called it a fair-sized fire, at eight hectares, and that 90 per cent of Okanagan Falls’ fire crews – about 16 – were involved in battling the blaze. Oliver added that “two fellas came and gave us a hand, and they were right in there.

“Other than that, it’s looking good. The B.C. Wildfire Service is also there, and as soon as we can everything mopped up, we have a lot of clean up to do.”

There was no word on what caused the fire, though the B.C. Wildfire Service suspects that it was human caused, though the scene was being investigated.