A wildfire is burning along the edge of a popular B.C. lake.
Spotted Monday, the fire is burning at Marble Point on Shuswap Lake.
Currently, the B.C. Wildfire Service says the fire is about 1.8 hectares in size.
Meanwhile, the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen has placed 43 properties along Highway 5A north of Princeton under an evacuation alert.
The Dry Lake wildfire is burning approximately 24 kilometres northwest of Princeton.
Twenty-nine firefighters, four helicopters, and 11 pieces of heavy equipment are working on the blaze.
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said there are about 48 active wildfires in B.C., more than half of which were sparked over the weekend.
“What we’ve seen is a slow start to the season this year, but now with this hot weather we’re seeing a significant increase,” he said.
The B.C. wildfire service says our current heatwave — paired with thunder cells — has created the perfect storm ripe for wildfires.
“The hot weather is still persisting,” said Gagan Lidhran with the BC Wildfire Service.
“We really want the public to be mindful that because we’ve had an increase in lightning-caused wildfires, now is the time to really be fire safe and to really reduce our risk of human-caused wildfires.”
–with files from Jules Knox and Jon Azpiri