A brush fire that broke out on a steep hill north of Oliver on Wednesday at noon was quickly contained, and emergency crews are now in the mop-up stage.
The Oliver Fire Department said it was alerted of the fire near Seacrest Hill Road about 12:30 p.m.
“When we were called out, there was some visible flame,” said Rob Graham, fire information officer with the Oliver Fire Department.
Fortunately, the brush fire only grew to about one acre before crews managed to get it under control.
“We believe its cause would have been a lightning strike,” Graham told Global News.
While there are no structures in the immediate vicinity, the blaze was difficult to access.
“We responded with a few of our forestry trucks, as well as the water tender and a pumper, Graham said.
“The steep terrain prohibited us from getting vehicles to access it, so it was all accessed by foot.”
The Oliver Fire Department did contact the B.C Wildfire Service, but no assistance was required.
“We did make B.C. Forestry aware of the situation, and they did notify us that they had resources available,” said Graham, “but we managed to get things taken care of without their help at the time.”
Graham said the brush fire serves as a good reminder that wildfire fire season is upon us.
“Things are still fairly dry out here even though it’s raining,” he said. “We still have to be careful.”