A wildfire situated 17 kilometres west of Osoyoos is now classified as ‘being held’.
According to BC Wildfire Service (BCWS), the fire dubbed the Richter Mountain wildfire is estimated at 78 hectares.
“We’re not anticipating it’s going to grow any further than what it currently is,” said BCWS Information Officer Forrest Tower.
“We’re feeling good that that one will be progressing to the next stage, and we maybe can call it contained in the next couple of days.”
Since this fire was discovered, crews worked to build a hand guard upslope on either side of the fire.
Currently, 32 firefighters are assigned to the blaze and are being supported by both helicopters and air tankers to suppress the fire burning in steep terrain at high elevations.
“Crews will continue to work the fire to extinguish areas of heat and flame in the coming days.”
BCWS said the fire sparked along BC Highway 3 around 1:00 a.m. on Friday.
BCWS information officer Karley Desrosiers said they are aware that a truck did catch fire in a “vehicle incident” along the highway, however, a connection to the fire has not officially been confirmed.
On Friday, the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen issued an evacuation alert for 29 properties in the area but rescinded the alert later that day.
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