Three wildfires that were sparked east of Kelowna on Tuesday are now causing quite a bit of concern.
At 11 a.m., on Wednesday morning, the three fires inside Graystokes Provincial Park were listed as being small, with two being a half-hectare each in size, and the third at three hectares.
However, by 4 p.m., massive clouds of smoke could be seen rising from the area.
Around 5:30 p.m., the BC Wildfire Service said two of the fires had grown exponentially in size, adding the fires were also located around 18 kilometres north of Big White.
“The Long Loch wildfire and the Derrickson Lake wildfire are in close proximity and estimated to be 300 hectares combined in size,” said the BC Wildfire Service. “Smoke and fire behaviour is making it difficult to confirm (the sizes).”
The wildfire agency also said due to aggressive fire behaviour, firefighting resources have been pulled back to protect the safety of responders.
“The wildfires are highly visible from Kelowna, Vernon and the surrounding communities,” said BC Wildfire. “There are no structures or properties currently threatened.”