A new wildfire has ignited in the Okanagan and it’s highly visible to vacationers on Okanagan Lake and the surrounding beaches over the August long weekend.
The BC Wildfire Service says the blaze, which has been mapped at 0.5 hectares, broke out Sunday afternoon in the Rose Valley reservoir area in the hills above West Kelowna, B.C.
“We have a bird dog and three air tankers that are going to be going towards the fire at this time. We’ve got a helicopter as well as two initial attack crews, so that’s about six personnel,” said fire information officer Gagan Lidhran.
It is unknown if any structures in the area are threatened.
The West Kelowna fire department is also attending to the scene.
“It is highly visible from the downtown area of Kelowna and we thank everybody that called in for the fire, we received multiple calls and our phone lines were quite busy in the last little while here,” Lidhran said.
The Broken Rail Ranch Trail Rides says the wildfire is “fairly close,” but given the fire suppression efforts underway, it feels safe to continue with planned horseback trail rides this evening.
Fire activity has increased significantly across B.C.’s southern interior as a heatwave combined with thunder cells created conditions ripe for wildfires.
More to come
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